Amid renewed strikes, Katz says ‘gates of hell will open in Gaza’ if hostages not released

In a statement issued shortly after the IDF resumed strikes throughout Gaza after a nearly two-month ceasefire, Defense Minister Israel Katz says “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas will be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it doesn’t release all 59 remaining hostages.

“Tonight we returned to fighting in Gaza in light of Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages and amid its threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities,” Katz says.

“We will not stop fighting until all of the hostages return home and all the war’s aims are achieved,” he adds.

Hostage families have long argued that Israel’s war aims contradict each other and that a return to fighting in order to dismantle Hamas’s military and governing capabilities will endanger their loved ones.

Hamas has insisted on sticking with the original terms of the deal, which was supposed to enter its second phase at the beginning of the month. That phase envisioned Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages. While Israel signed on to those terms in January, Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been destroyed.

Accordingly, Israel refused to even hold talks regarding the terms of phase two, which were supposed to begin on February 3.

Nonetheless, the ceasefire had remained in place for roughly two and a half weeks after the end of phase one, as the mediators worked to broker new terms for its extension.

Accepting Israel’s aversion to phase two, Witkoff presented a bridge proposal last week that would have seen phase one extended for several weeks during which five living hostages would be released. The US envoy said Sunday that Hamas’s response to the offer was a “non-starter” and warned of impending consequences if the terror group did not change its approach.