Israeli defense minister Israel Katz threatened to turn Gaza City "into Rafah and Beit Hanoun," meaning leaving it in ruins, unless the militant group Hamas agrees to Israel's conditions for ending the war.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing for a fresh offensive into Gaza City, which was approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, August 21. Netanyahu has said Israel intends to fully occupy the Gaza Strip.

"Soon the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza—until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, foremost among them the release of all hostages and the dismantling of their weapons," Katz posted to X on Friday morning, originally in Hebrew.

"If they do not agree—Gaza, Hamas's capital, will turn

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