Israeli minister of military affairs Israel Katz has declared that the occupation army will resume its military onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip once the remaining captives are returned, marking an open defiance of the newly agreed ceasefire agreement between the Hamas resistance movement and the Tel Aviv regime.
In a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday, Katz said that once the first phase of the deal is ended with the release of all captives, the Israeli military will resume its offensives to destroy Hamas.
“Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the captives will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza, directly by the army and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States,” he added.
“This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarizing Gaza and neutralizing Hamas of its weapons.
“I have instructed the Israeli army to prepare for carrying out the mission,” Katz said.
The remarks came less than a day after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire framework brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, and intended to end Israel’s two-year-long genocide in Gaza.
Katz’s statement made it clear that Israel views the truce not as a step towards ending the military assault on the Gaza Strip, but rather as a temporary pause before re-launching its military offensive.
Israel killed at least nine Palestinians on Wednesday as the regime’s military warned Gaza residents to stay away from the areas it still occupies.
Additionally, Israeli tanks fired at Palestinians in the town of Bani Suheila and the Sheikh Nasser neighborhood, east of Khan Younis. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.
At least 67,913 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 170,134 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the health ministry of Gaza.
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