Katz said in a post on the X platform Friday evening: "The American newspaper, The New York Times, claimed this week that satellite images show that Israel is still destroying Gaza," adding, quoting the newspaper: "Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has destroyed more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza in the areas under its control."
He explained that, "According to their claims, the Shuja'iyya neighborhood (in Gaza City) was destroyed, and entire residential complexes, in addition to agricultural lands, were demolished since the ceasefire." Katz did not deny what the American newspaper reported, but rather boasted, "I salute the soldiers of the Israeli army for their activity."
He confirmed that his orders, along with those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were to destroy the tunnels and infrastructure he described as "terrorist," stressing that the army would continue its operations under the pretext of "maintaining Israel's security."
The New York Times revealed on Monday, based on satellite images, that Israel has demolished more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, explaining that the destruction included neighborhoods that were turned into empty spaces, even though they were still partially standing during the war, and that the demolitions also affected dozens of buildings outside the areas controlled by the Israeli occupation army.
In response to Katz's statements, Hamas, through its spokesman Hazem Qassem, said on Saturday that the Israeli Defense Minister's boasting about the destruction of Gaza and his congratulations to his soldiers was "an unprecedented disregard in modern history for all international laws and humanitarian norms."
Qassem stressed that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is "a war of genocide and ethnic cleansing operations that constitute a fully-fledged crime, with Katz's public and explicit admission," calling for the occupation regime to be held accountable for these crimes.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continued its violations, demolishing Palestinian homes in areas under its control, which constitute more than half of the Gaza Strip, and targeting civilian gatherings. Hamas repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the agreement and called on Tel Aviv to take similar steps.
On Thursday, the Gaza government media office said in a statement that Israel had committed 1,244 violations of the ceasefire in its first phase, resulting in the death, injury and arrest of 1,760 Palestinians since the agreement came into effect.
This agreement ended a genocidal war that Israel started on October 7, 2023, and that lasted for two years, leaving more than 71,000 martyrs and more than 171,000 wounded Palestinians, and massive destruction that affected 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the sector, with reconstruction costs estimated by the United Nations at about $70 billion.
