Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens to destroy Gaza City unless Hamas disarms, frees hostages, and accepts Israel’s terms to end the war.
The announcement followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement late Thursday that he had issued an order for immediate talks to liberate all of the captives still held in Gaza.
“Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,”
the minister posted on social media.
“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,”
he added, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed during previous Israeli operations.
Netanyahu went on to say that the effort to seize Gaza City and demolish the Hamas stronghold would coincide with the drive to free the captives.
The military ministry approved the mobilization of over 60,000 reservists earlier this week in order to aid in the capture of Gaza City.
“These two matters — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,”
Netanyahu said in a video statement, without providing details about what the next stage of talks would entail.
After Hamas accepted their most recent ceasefire proposal earlier this week, mediators had been waiting for a formal Israeli response for days.
Israel has insisted that any agreement see the release of all the hostages at once, but Palestinian sources claim the current agreement calls for the release of the hostages in phases.
Both domestic and international objections have been raised by Israel's plans to escalate the conflict and take control of Gaza City.
According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) count based on official numbers, 1,219 persons were killed in Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel, the majority of them were civilians.
According to the United Nations-reliable health ministry numbers in Hamas-run Gaza, Israel's attack has killed around 62,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians.
What legal arguments could classify Katz’s statement as incitement or war crime?
International law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), criminalizes direct and public incitement to commit genocide or crimes against humanity even if the incited acts are not carried out. Katz’s statement, which threatens mass destruction and implicitly harm to civilians, could be viewed as incitement if it is seen as encouraging widespread violence or extermination based on ethnic or national identity.
Under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), war crimes include ordering or threatening attacks that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants or that cause disproportionate harm to civilians relative to the military advantage.
Katz’s vow to destroy Gaza City could be seen as endorsing indiscriminate destruction, violating protections for civilian populations.