Katz vows no retreat in Gaza as Trump urges Hamas to free captives
Shafaq News – Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, said on Tuesday that the Gaza Strip “is burning,” vowing that Israel “will not retreat” as its forces intensified bombardment on the city of Gaza.
Katz claimed that the Israeli army was “striking terrorist infrastructure with an iron fist” and that soldiers were “fighting courageously to create conditions for the release of captives and the defeat of Hamas,” adding, “We will not stop and we will not retreat until we achieve our mission.”
עזה בוערת. צה"ל מכה באגרוף פלדה בתשתיות הטרור וחיילי צה"ל נלחמים בגבורה ליצירת התנאים לשחרור החטופים ולהכרעת החמאס. לא נרפה ולא נשוב לאחור - עד להשלמת המשימה.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 16, 2025
The statement came as the Israeli military launched dozens of air and ground strikes across Gaza overnight, demolishing residential buildings in the city’s north and issuing evacuation orders for residents of Gaza’s port district and the Rimal neighborhood.
According to Palestinian media, 41 people were killed since early Tuesday, including 37 in Gaza City.
US President Donald Trump weighed in, urging Hamas to immediately release Israeli captives. Trump warned the group against endangering them during Israel’s ongoing military operations, citing reports that hostages had been moved above ground “to use them as human shields.”
Hamas rejected Trump’s remarks, describing them as “a blatant bias toward Israeli propaganda.” In a statement released Tuesday morning, the group said the comments reflected “double standards that overlook crimes of ethnic cleansing” and ignored the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, most of them women and children.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Israeli attacks have killed 65,842 people and wounded 173,298 in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Hospitals across the territory, including al-Awda Hospital, continue to report rising casualties, with dozens killed and injured in strikes on areas where humanitarian aid is distributed.
