Israel’s defense minister warned on Wednesday that the war in Gaza would soon escalate with “tremendous force” and an extended humanitarian blockade if Hamas did not quickly release hostages amid stalled cease-fire negotiations.
The blunt and detailed statement by the minister, Israel Katz, came as a growing list of former Israeli security officials accused the government of prolonging the war at the expense of the surviving hostages who remain in Gaza.
At the same time, the United Nations warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was likely at its worst since the conflict began in October 2023, and that the population was once again on the brink of famine.
Mr. Katz said Israeli troops would remain in the territory in Gaza that the military had seized last month after the collapse of a six-week cease-fire. During the truce, Hamas freed about 30 living hostages and returned the bodies of eight others.
He said the Israeli military would use “tremendous force, from the air, land and sea” to destroy Hamas bunkers both above and below ground, and keep up the evacuations of Gazans who again are being forced to leave their homes to escape the strikes. Already, hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have been displaced.
These measures aim to “bring about the release of all the hostages,” Mr. Katz said, while carving out a path to defeat Hamas later.
“If Hamas persists in its refusal, the activity will expand and move to the next stages,” Mr. Katz said.
An American proposal, introduced last month by the Trump administration envoy Steve Witkoff, would require Hamas to release some living hostages without guarantees from Israel that it would permanently end the war — something Hamas has been demanding.
Hamas has rejected the U.S. plan as well as demands that it disarm as part of an eventual settlement.
But frustration is mounting in Israel that the ramped-up war is putting the remaining hostages in greater peril.
On Wednesday, hundreds of former senior Israeli police officials joined a group of nearly 1,000 active-duty and reserve forces who had earlier called for a negotiated agreement to free the hostages immediately.
And U.N. officials said time was running out for the nearly two million Gazans who depend on foreign aid for survival.
The aid that was delivered to Gaza during the cease-fire that ended last month has “practically run out,” said John Whyte, the acting deputy director of the Gaza operations for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinians.
“We are facing once again the prospect of famine,” Mr. Whyte warned on Tuesday.
Separately, the main U.N. agency for humanitarian affairs said that Israel’s intensified military operations, aid blockade, evacuation orders and disruption of health care “are driving what is likely the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.” It cited vast food and water insecurity and attacks on hospitals that have disrupted “an already decimated health system.”
Mr. Katz said that while the Israeli military would continue to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, he also called for “creating an infrastructure for distribution through civil society later on.”
That prompted an immediate backlash from rival officials in Israel’s government who accused him of giving into Hamas, which has some control of how food is distributed in the territory.
“Cutting off aid is one of the main levers of pressure on Hamas, and returning it before Hamas gets on its knees and releases all of our hostages would be a historic mistake,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, said on social media.
Mr. Katz said his comments were being distorted by “those who try to mislead.”
“Israel’s policy is clear and no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza,” he said in a follow-up statement.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
Lara Jakes, based in Rome, reports on diplomatic and military efforts by the West to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. She has been a journalist for nearly 30 years.
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