Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday threatened to destroy all that remains of Gaza City and to force around one million Gazans to evacuate if Hamas, egged on by Iran or Turkey, takes a single Israeli hostage.
Katz said he was responding to the increasing threat picture about potential aggressive actions by Iran, Turkey, and proxies like Hamas.
The defense minister said that such threats and actions were the only way to deter jihadist enemies of Israel from attacking it.
While a theoretical statement and possibly a popular one domestically within Israel, Katz's threat may make the lives of Israeli lawyers trying to defend the Jewish state in The Hague from genocide and war crimes accusations more difficult in convincing judges that Israel's leaders honor the proportionality rules of international law.
Further, in the public relations sphere, critics of Israel may use his statement to bolster allegations they recently broadcast through the NAZA documentary film, though the film itself reportedly provides few specific, concrete incidents.
Katz: IDF will not partially withdraw until Hamas fully disarms
In addition, Katz said that the IDF would not make any partial withdrawals from the 63% of Gaza the IDF currently controls back either to the 53% point, the around 30% point, or the around 15% point, until Hamas is fully disarmed.
This statement will likely hold true until at least the US midterm elections on November 3.
However, after that date, US foreign affairs envoy Jared Kushner has dropped numerous public hints that the Trump administration will renew its push for Israel to make partial Gaza withdrawals in exchange for Hamas to take partial disarmament actions.