Israel has warned that Gaza City would be evacuated and its residents relocated to the south of the Gaza Strip if another Israeli soldier or civilian is abducted and taken to Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued the warning on Tuesday, saying intelligence indicated that plans for another abduction were underway.
Katz said Israel would respond as it had during the Gaza war, warning Hamas and its supporters, including Iran and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Israeli news portal ynet reported that Israeli soldiers in Gaza had been urged to remain vigilant over a possible Hamas response to targeted killings of senior members of the group. The report could not be independently verified.
During the October 7, 2023 attack, Hamas and other armed groups abducted more than 250 people from Israel to Gaza. About two-thirds were later returned alive, while the rest were killed or died in captivity.
The attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, triggered the Gaza war. Since then, more than 73,900 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, whose figures do not distinguish between civilians and armed fighters.
