Israel’s defence minister warned on Friday that Gaza City could be destroyed unless Hamas accepts Israel’s terms, as the country prepares for an expanded offensive in the area. A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorise the military to mount a major operation to seize Gaza City, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that the enclave’s largest city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun”, areas reduced to rubble earlier in the war.

“The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza, until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote in a post on X. He restated Israel’s cease-fire demands: the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament. Hamas has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war, but rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.

The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days. Gaza City is Hamas’ military and governing stronghold, atop of what Israel believes is an extensive tunnel network. It is also sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians and still houses some of the strip’s critical infrastructure and health facilities.