From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 18, 2025
Katz: Hamas willing to discuss hostage deal due to fear we’ll conquer Gaza City
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Israel Katz says that for the first time in weeks, Hamas is “willing to discuss a deal for the release of hostages, only because of its fear that we seriously intend to conquer Gaza City.”
Katz, speaking to senior IDF officers during a visit to the Gaza Division with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, says capturing Gaza City “will lead to the defeat of Hamas.”
Israel has warned it would capture Gaza City, and Zamir recently green-lit the IDF’s plans for the offensive.
“The focus on Gaza City derives from it being a military, governmental, and symbolic center of gravity. The leadership is there, and there remain the central infrastructures of the military wing. Hamas also knows that this is now the core of its rule,” Katz claims.
Therefore, Katz says, “We see that for the first time, after weeks in which Hamas was not at all willing to discuss any deal for the release of hostages, even though Turkey had already approached it and Qatar had approached it, suddenly it is on the table.”
“The reason is clear: only [Hamas’s] fear that we seriously intend to conquer Gaza [City] makes it willing to discuss,” Katz adds.
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