Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Friday warned Hamas to accept the Gaza ceasefire deal proposed by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “or be destroyed.”
Witkoff’s proposal includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 bodies in two phases in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release by Israel of 1,236 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, along with the bodies of 180 Palestinians, according to media reports.
In a statement issued by his office, Katz said the Israeli military continued its operations in Gaza with full force, carrying out attacks by air, land, and sea on an unprecedented scale “for maximum protection of our soldiers in preparation for the entry of the manoeuvring forces in each area.”
In a statement issued on Friday, the Israeli military said that since Thursday, its air force, alongside ground forces, had struck dozens of targets across the Gaza Strip, which “eliminated terrorists, dismantled weapons, and dismantled terrorist and underground infrastructure sites.”
It added that during the military operations, two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at Israeli troops, lightly wounding three soldiers.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the October 2023 Hamas attack, 57 remain in Gaza, of whom 34 are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli military.
