Warning of alleged plots by Hamas to capture Israelis, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to depopulate Gaza City in case such scenario took place.
At an annual memorial ceremony for soldiers killed in the 1973 so-called Yom Kippur War, Katz claimed there are “various intentions and intelligence” indicating Hamas is planning to carry out new operations to capture Israelis.
He did not offer details about the alleged threat, but issued his threat to the Palestinian resistance group as well as Iran and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“In light of various intentions and intelligence, I warn the terror organization and its supporters, from Iran to Erdogan: if even one Israeli soldier or civilian is kidnapped, the entire Gaza City’s… one million residents will be evacuated southward,” Katz stated, as quoted by Israeli media, referring to Hamas resistance group.
BREAKING: Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz has vowed to force out all of Gaza City's residents and displace a million Palestinians in the war-ravaged enclave if any Israeli is abducted in the future.
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) September 22, 2026
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“It will be dealt with in the same way that Rafah and Beit Hanoun and 70 percent of the Gaza Strip were dealt with, until they are returned,” he added, referring to sections of the Strip that the Israeli occupation army razed during the genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Nearly all Gazans currently live in Gaza City and its environs along the coast, with the occupation army controlling much of Gaza Strip.
“This is the language that the jihadist terror organizations in Gaza and Lebanon understand, and this is the language we speak: Evacuating the population, destroying the infrastructure and taking the territory,” Katz added.
He also reiterates that the Israeli occupation forces “will not withdraw from the Yellow Line in Gaza to new lines of deployment inside Gaza as long as Hamas has not been eliminated and Gaza has not been disarmed of weapons and tunnels.”
Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar)