Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Gaza "is burning" as Israeli forces were "striking with an iron fist," apparently at the launch of a long-anticipated offensive to seize Gaza City.
Newsweek has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment by email.
Why It Matters
Israel's military says it controls about 75 percent of Gaza. Most of the city's 2 million population has been displaced multiple times in the past 22 months, following Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of about 1,200 people—most of them civilians—and saw 250 people taken hostage.
Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave, who warn that famine is setting in.
What To Know
"Gaza is burning. The IDF is striking with an iron fist at the terror infrastructure, and IDF soldiers are fighting bravely to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas," Katz wrote on X, originally in Hebrew, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
"We will not relent and we will not turn back—until the mission is completed," Katz continued.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel needs to incapacitate Hamas in the city to avoid a repeat of the October 7 attack that ignited the war.
Israel declared Gaza's largest city a combat zone on August 29 and has since urged residents to leave.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been in Israel this week, suggested on Tuesday that the Israeli offensive was underway, the Associated Press reported.
"Well, as you saw the Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen," Rubio told reporters while leaving Israel for Qatar.
"We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks, so it's a key moment—an important moment," he said.
The Jerusalem Post said it could confirm that the offensive had begun late on Monday, and it cited reports of Israeli tanks in the heart of Gaza City. More than 300,000 residents had fled city going south, but about 700,000 remained, it said.
Israel announced on August 8 a plan to take over Gaza City and eventually implement "Israeli security control" of the entire Gaza Strip, drawing widespread criticism, including from some Western governments.
Foreign ministers from the U.K., Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Australia released a joint statement rejecting the plan, saying it would "aggravate" the already "catastrophic" situation in Gaza.
Katz issued a stark warning to Hamas on August 22, threatening to turn Gaza City "into Rafah and Beit Hanoun," which are in ruins, unless Hamas agreed to Israel's conditions for ending the war.
Gaza City is in the north of the 26-mile coastal enclave and has been devastated by Israeli military strikes over the past 22 months. At least 50,000 reservists are to be called up for the operation, bringing the total troop strength to 120,000.
The Israeli military plan for its offensive to take over Gaza City will focus on "terror infrastructure," in particular a tunnel network, and securing the release of all hostages, an Israeli military official said in August.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday: "At some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation. But I think time, unfortunately, is running out."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on September 3: "The mission is still not complete. We have not forgotten the horrors of October 7, we have not forgotten the hostages—and we will continue until they return home."
What Happens Next
The Israeli offensive is likely to unfold even as Qatar, Egypt and the United States try to push for progress in the talks they are mediating between Israel and Hamas, which have both remained firm on opposing conditions for ending the war.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this article.
Update 9/16/25, 3:31 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
