Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that he had put the military on high alert ahead of the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. He warned that Gaza’s population would pay a “heavy price” if Israeli forces were harmed. His office said intelligence about possible attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza prompted the alert.
The warning to Gaza
Katz’s office said he issued the instruction “in light of intelligence regarding Hamas's intentions to attempt to carry out attacks and terror operations against our forces in Gaza on that day”. The statement quoted in the report gave no further details about the intelligence.
The office also described what would follow if Israeli forces were harmed. “If, heaven forbid, our forces are harmed, the ones who will pay the heavy price will be Hamas and the population of Gaza -- beyond all proportion,” it said. The warning named Gaza’s population alongside Hamas as those who would face consequences.
The alert comes ahead of October 7, 2026, the third anniversary of the attack, according to the dates provided in the report. Katz announced it Tuesday. The report offered no further details about military preparations for the anniversary.
Deaths and destruction in Gaza
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 hostages to Gaza; the report said 44 of them were already dead.
Israel launched a military offensive in response. The offensive has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas authority. The United Nations considers the ministry’s figures reliable, the report said.
The figures also include deaths since a ceasefire was declared last October. According to the health ministry, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people in Gaza since then. The report gave no separate breakdown of those deaths or further information about the ceasefire.
The reported tolls put Katz’s warning against the record of the Israeli offensive and the continued deaths reported in Gaza after the ceasefire declaration. The figures come from Gaza’s health ministry; the report notes its relationship to Hamas and the United Nations’ assessment that its figures are reliable.
Netanyahu’s stated policy
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a state ceremony marking three years since the attack. He said there would be “no Hamas rule in Gaza” and vowed to keep targeting anyone involved in the attack or anyone who held hostages.
Netanyahu set out the government’s declared position on future rule in Gaza and continued targeting of people it links to the attack or hostage-taking. The report gave no further details on how the stated policy would be carried out.
The article reporting these events didn’t include reporting on the Gaza plan or aid deliveries. Instead, it focused on Katz’s military alert and warning, Netanyahu’s remarks, and casualty figures attributed to Israeli official figures and Gaza’s health ministry.