Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, would be emptied and its roughly one million residents forced to move south if any Israeli soldier or civilian is kidnapped.
Speaking at a state memorial ceremony for soldiers, Katz also said that Israel would not withdraw from its current positions inside Gaza until Hamas is disarmed and the enclave is demilitarized, including the removal of all weapons and tunnels.
He added that Israeli forces would remain along the "Yellow Line," a deployment line inside Gaza established under an October 2025 ceasefire.
The warning was aimed at "terror organizations and their supporters", including Iran and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It came amid strained ties between Israel and Turkey, which has repeatedly criticized Israel's military operations in Gaza and fully suspended trade with Israel since the latest round of the Palestine-Israel conflict erupted in October 2023.
Ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has placed Erdogan in campaign advertising alongside Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which Israel identifies as external enemies.