‘If a single Israeli is abducted, the entire city of Gaza will be evacuated,’ says DM Katz at memorial ceremony

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said at the National Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl that Israel "will not withdraw from the 'Yellow Line' in Gaza to new deployment lines within Gaza as long as Hamas has not been ousted and Gaza has not been demilitarized of weapons and tunnels." He said that "53 years after the Yom Kippur War, we are engaged in a campaign against those who seek to destroy us," adding "they did not succeed in 1973, and they will not succeed today."

Katz warned that Israel had struck Iran twice with "powerful preemptive blows," removing the threat of nuclear annihilation and eliminating Khamenei, and said Israel would strike a third time if necessary "up to the point of toppling and ousting the terror regime." He said the IDF is deployed in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, establishing security zones "devoid of residents" where forces are "destroying all terror infrastructure—both above and below ground."

The defense minister then issued a direct warning "to the terrorist organization and its supporters—from Iran to Erdogan": if a single Israeli soldier or civilian is abducted, "the entire city of Gaza—with its homes and terror towers—will be evacuated of its million residents," as was done during Operation Chariots of Gideon II, and dealt with "in the same manner as Rafah, Beit Hanoun, and 70% of Gaza's territory, until the captive is returned." He said this is "the language that the jihadist terror organizations in Gaza and Lebanon understand."

Katz closed by crediting Israel's military and diplomatic achievements to "the courage, heroism, and sacrifice of IDF soldiers" and the fallen "who gave their lives for the revival of the People of Israel in their land."