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Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday vowed that Israel would destroy Gaza City unless the Hamas terror group releases the hostages and lays down its weapons.

Katz noted that the government on Thursday approved the IDF’s plans to open the “gates of hell” and “defeat Hamas in Gaza,” as the military prepares to push into Gaza City in a new offensive aimed at conquering the Palestinian territory’s largest population center.

The comments came hours after a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, a charge Israel swiftly denied, and as mediating countries made a final push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal before Israel launches its planned assault.

“The gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Katz said.

If Hamas doesn’t capitulate, Gaza City “will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity, he declared.

While the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza City has yet to fully get underway, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday during a visit to the West Bank that the army is “expanding activity in Gaza.”

Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, August 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On the ground, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 46 people on Friday, more than half of them in Gaza City. Hamas figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Umm Mohammed Nasr, a 42-year-old mother of four from Gaza City, said that “the bombing hasn’t stopped since this morning… but we have no idea where to go.”

“We are dying,” she said.

Ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, Israel on Thursday warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have already left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated strikes on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Palestinians transport their belongings on a donkey-pulled cart as they flee the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas demands Gaza border crossings open

Also on Friday, Hamas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and lifting of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of aid into the Strip after the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system officially declared a famine in parts of the territory earlier in the day.

In a statement published online, the terror group called for “immediate action by the UN and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demands that border crossings into Gaza be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”

According to the IPC report, an estimated 514,000 people — or nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population — are experiencing famine, and that number is expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

A Palestinian woman pushes a child’s wheelchair as she flees with others from the Abu Iskandar neighborhood of northern Gaza City on August 22, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

According to the hunger monitor, Israel’s total blockade on aid from early March to mid-May — which came after the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas — was followed by “critically low volumes through July” and “coupled with the collapse of local food production,” leading to “extreme food shortages.”

Israel resumed the supply of aid in May, but the flow remained well below what it had been prior to the blockade; it was only in July, after reports of imminent famine, that Israel announced a series of actions to boost the flow of aid into Gaza, while denying there was starvation in the enclave.

Israel swiftly denied the report, saying that the IPC relies on Hamas sources and accused the system of having “twisted its own rules” in declaring a famine.

PMO: IPC report is ‘modern blood libel’

In a Friday statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC famine declaration an “outright lie” and “modern blood libel.”

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the PMO said.

The statement said the report by the IPC report ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and fails to mention a drop in the prices of oil, sugar, salt, flour, yeast and chickpeas in Gaza that the PMO attributes to the entry of humanitarian supplies into the Strip. The source of the information on the prices is unclear.

A truck transporting humanitarian aid drives down a road in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Citing data from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel has facilitated the entry of millions of tons of aid into Gaza since war there was triggered by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, the PMO said.

The statement also said the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as NGOs facilitated by Israel, have served millions of warm meals to Gazans.

On the other hand, the PMO cited UN data as saying that in July, “of 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses; the rest were looted before distribution.” The PMO also accused the UN of having refused to deliver “hundreds of pallets of food” from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The PMO did concede that there had been “temporary shortages” of aid in Gaza “which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” but blamed the shortages on “Hamas’s systematic theft.”

Palestinians wait to receive a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The statement did not mention the 11-week aid blockade Israel imposed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal on March 2.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage to the Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Apple (AAPL) has moved quickly to patch a zero-click vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to compromise iPhones, iPads, and Macs without the user even clicking a link. The flaw, which was tied to the way Apple devices process images, left a dangerous opening for attackers to steal sensitive data, including cryptocurrency wallets.

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In a Thursday advisory, Apple confirmed the issue had been fixed in the latest software updates across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. The company warned the bug had already been linked to “an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals,” urging all users to update their devices immediately.

Crypto Users Face Higher Risks

Security experts say the exploit carried an especially high risk for crypto holders. Unlike stolen credit cards or bank details, stolen digital assets cannot be reversed once they are transferred. This makes cryptocurrency users prime targets for highly motivated attackers.

Juliano Rizzo, CEO of cybersecurity firm Coinspect, explained how the attack worked. “This is a zero-click vulnerability that does not require user interaction, and an attachment delivered via iMessage can be processed automatically and lead to device compromise.” In practice, that means attackers could quietly access sensitive wallet data stored on a device.

The Vulnerability Explained

The bug stemmed from Apple’s Image I/O framework, which allows applications to handle a wide range of image file types. A flaw in its implementation meant that simply processing a malicious image could give attackers permission to write to areas of memory normally off-limits.

This kind of access lets attackers execute their own code inside a device, altering how programs operate and gaining a pathway to critical functions. For those holding crypto on their phones, the implications are severe. Attackers could potentially bypass protections and gain access to wallets or authentication tools.

Advice for Crypto Holders

Rizzo advised high-value targets, especially those using Apple devices for wallet storage or transaction signing, to consider migrating to new wallet keys if there is any suspicion of compromise. “The exact steps depend on the attack specifics, but the key is to stay calm, document a clear plan, and start by securing primary accounts (email, cloud) that attackers could exploit for password resets or further access,” he said.

For most users, spotting signs of this kind of exploitation is nearly impossible. System logs could, in theory, reveal anomalies, but Rizzo pointed out that Apple and other vendors are usually better positioned to detect attacks and alert victims directly. The immediate priority, he stressed, is updating devices to close the vulnerability.

Is Apple Stock a Good Buy?

According to TipRanks, Apple currently carries a Moderate Buy rating based on 27 Wall Street analyst reviews in the past three months. Out of those, 15 recommend a Buy, 11 suggest a Hold, and one advises a Sell.

The average 12-month AAPL price target sits at $238.45, which implies about a 5.3% upside from Apple’s last close at $226.43.

See more AAPL analyst ratings

Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue

Earlier this week, a random report from an account with zero track-record claimed that the iPhone 18 will drop the Camera Control button. We were skeptical of the rumor at the time, and now a new leak from a more reliable source has the full context.

As it turns out, Apple isn’t planning to remove the Camera Control from the iPhone 18 altogether, but rather introduce a dumbed-down version of it.

As a refresher, the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 is a complex piece of engineering. It combines a pressure-sensitive button with a capacitive surface on which you can swipe and tap to manipulate the Camera app. You can press the button to take a picture and swipe on its surface to switch between modes, zoom in and out, and more.

The rumor comes from the Instant Digital account on Weibo, which has accurately leaked information about upcoming iPhones in the past. They say Apple is currently running normal trial production of the pressure sensor used in the iPhone’s Camera Control. The company, however, has removed the touch-sensitive component from the button.

The report specifically cites the high production cost and long-term reliability concerns of the Camera Control as reasons for this change. I’m sure that user feedback is also playing a role.

9to5Mac’s Take

This makes a lot more sense to me than Apple ditching the Camera Control altogether.

My use of the Camera Control consists of using it as a way to launch the Camera app and as a shutter button to take pictures. In fact, I have all the fancy “swipey-swipey” features disabled.

I’d be bummed if Apple removed the Camera Control altogether. A simplified version of it, however, makes perfect sense. Plus, Apple uses the Camera Control as a way to quickly launch its Visual Intelligence feature, which is getting a big upgrade as part of iOS 26 this year.

What do you think? Let us know down in the comments.

My favorite iPhone accessories:

Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon. 

Earlier this week, a random report from an account with zero track-record claimed that the iPhone 18 will drop the Camera Control button. We were skeptical of the rumor at the time, and now a new leak from a more reliable source has the full context.

As it turns out, Apple isn’t planning to remove the Camera Control from the iPhone 18 altogether, but rather introduce a dumbed-down version of it.

As a refresher, the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 is a complex piece of engineering. It combines a pressure-sensitive button with a capacitive surface on which you can swipe and tap to manipulate the Camera app. You can press the button to take a picture and swipe on its surface to switch between modes, zoom in and out, and more.

The rumor comes from the Instant Digital account on Weibo, which has accurately leaked information about upcoming iPhones in the past. They say Apple is currently running normal trial production of the pressure sensor used in the iPhone’s Camera Control. The company, however, has removed the touch-sensitive component from the button.

The report specifically cites the high production cost and long-term reliability concerns of the Camera Control as reasons for this change. I’m sure that user feedback is also playing a role.

9to5Mac’s Take

This makes a lot more sense to me than Apple ditching the Camera Control altogether.

My use of the Camera Control consists of using it as a way to launch the Camera app and as a shutter button to take pictures. In fact, I have all the fancy “swipey-swipey” features disabled.

I’d be bummed if Apple removed the Camera Control altogether. A simplified version of it, however, makes perfect sense. Plus, Apple uses the Camera Control as a way to quickly launch its Visual Intelligence feature, which is getting a big upgrade as part of iOS 26 this year.

What do you think? Let us know down in the comments.

My favorite iPhone accessories:

Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon. 

Earlier this week, a random report from an account with zero track-record claimed that the iPhone 18 will drop the Camera Control button. We were skeptical of the rumor at the time, and now a new leak from a more reliable source has the full context.

As it turns out, Apple isn’t planning to remove the Camera Control from the iPhone 18 altogether, but rather introduce a dumbed-down version of it.

As a refresher, the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 is a complex piece of engineering. It combines a pressure-sensitive button with a capacitive surface on which you can swipe and tap to manipulate the Camera app. You can press the button to take a picture and swipe on its surface to switch between modes, zoom in and out, and more.

The rumor comes from the Instant Digital account on Weibo, which has accurately leaked information about upcoming iPhones in the past. They say Apple is currently running normal trial production of the pressure sensor used in the iPhone’s Camera Control. The company, however, has removed the touch-sensitive component from the button.

The report specifically cites the high production cost and long-term reliability concerns of the Camera Control as reasons for this change. I’m sure that user feedback is also playing a role.

9to5Mac’s Take

This makes a lot more sense to me than Apple ditching the Camera Control altogether.

My use of the Camera Control consists of using it as a way to launch the Camera app and as a shutter button to take pictures. In fact, I have all the fancy “swipey-swipey” features disabled.

I’d be bummed if Apple removed the Camera Control altogether. A simplified version of it, however, makes perfect sense. Plus, Apple uses the Camera Control as a way to quickly launch its Visual Intelligence feature, which is getting a big upgrade as part of iOS 26 this year.

What do you think? Let us know down in the comments.

My favorite iPhone accessories:

Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon.