Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has warned that Israel would evacuate Gaza City and relocate its population to southern Gaza if another Israeli civilian or soldier is abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip.
Katz said Israeli intelligence indicated that there were current plans for such an abduction, but he gave no further details. He made the remarks during a commemoration event for soldiers killed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Israeli news portal ynet separately reported that Israeli soldiers in Gaza had been urged to remain more vigilant over possible Hamas retaliation following targeted killings of senior members of the group. That intelligence information could not be independently verified.
The warning comes nearly three years after the October 7, 2023 attack, during which more than 250 people were abducted from Israel to Gaza and around 1,200 people were killed in Israel. According to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 73,900 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, although its figures do not distinguish between civilians and armed fighters.
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