JERUSALEM, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel would not withdraw from its current positions inside Gaza until Hamas was removed and the enclave was demilitarized, tying any further pullback to conditions Israel says have not yet been met.
Katz, speaking at a state memorial ceremony for soldiers, said Israeli forces would remain along what Israel calls the "Yellow Line," a deployment line inside Gaza established under an October 2025 ceasefire.
He also threatened a mass evacuation of Gaza City if an Israeli soldier or civilian were abducted, saying Israel had received information about possible kidnapping attempts.
"If a single Israeli soldier or civilian is abducted, the entire city of Gaza will be evacuated of its one million residents to the south, and will be treated in the same way that Rafah and Beit Hanoun were treated, until he is returned," Katz said.
Meanwhile, Gaza-based health authorities said in a daily report that 1,399 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, bringing the death toll from Oct. 7, 2023, to 73,919.
The ceasefire halted Israel's large-scale offensive, but Israeli strikes have continued. A U.S.-backed Gaza peace plan envisages further Israeli withdrawals alongside the disarmament of Hamas, but implementation has stalled.■
