On August 22, 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Katz posted on social media that Israel had approved its military plan for Gaza City on August 21, including high-intensity firepower strikes, evacuations, and ground offensives to completely crush Hamas.

Katz declared that the “gates of hell” would open for Hamas until they accepted Israel’s ceasefire conditions, which included the release of all detainees and disarmament. He also warned that if Hamas refused to surrender, Gaza City would “follow the footsteps of Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” reduced to ruins under Israeli bombardment.

Hamas issued a statement calling Katz’s remarks “an admission of crimes tantamount to ethnic cleansing.” It expressed its willingness to release detainees in exchange for an end to the war, but refused to disarm without the establishment of a Palestinian state. Furthermore, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon called Katz’s remarks tantamount to an “admission of war crimes” and criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for “evading the issue.”