Katz again warns of renewed war in Gaza if hostages not freed

By Emanuel Fabian

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12 February 2025, 6:18 pm

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Defense Minister Israel Katz (right) meets with IDF Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk and Operations Division head Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, at the unit's underground command center, February 12, 2025. (Elad Malka/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens Hamas that if the terror group does not release Israeli hostages by Saturday, “the gates of hell will open, just as the US president promised.”

“If Hamas stops the release of the hostages, then there is no agreement, and there is a war,” he says during a visit to the IDF Operations Directorate’s command center.

Katz vows that renewed fighting in Gaza “will be different in its intensity compared to before the ceasefire, and will not end without the defeat of Hamas and release all the hostages, and will also allow the realization of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza.”