Israel Tells Hamas: Lay Down Arms, Free All Hostages – Or Gaza City Gets Leveled

Israel has once again given Hamas a tough ultimatum – release all the hostages and surrender or prepared to see Gaza City leveled - according to a new Thursday Times of Israel headline.

This came after Hamas declared its willingness to release all the hostages, based on a ceasefire proposal the group said it accepted two weeks ago. Hamas has said it will agree “to enter into a comprehensive deal in which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance will be freed in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation.”

However, it made demands which Israel has consistently rejected – that all Israeli troops withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and that all border crossings be immediately opened for the arrival of aid.

Hamas further said it is ready to form “an independent national administration of technocrats” to run Gaza. But the Netanyahu government has quickly shot back that all hostages must be freed at once, and the group must disarm, and agree that it will no longer govern. Israel has said it will not accept Palestinian Authority governance either.

“This is more spin by Hamas, containing nothing new,” Netanyahu’s office said. This means the Gaza City offensive will more than likely proceed and continue, given Hamas is not going to lay down its arms, which they will see as certain defeat, death or imprisonment. 

Netanyahu has called for “the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that does not indoctrinate for terror, does not dispatch terror, and does not threaten Israel.”

Meanwhile, even ahead of plans to take over the strip’s largest city, Israeli’s military had declared it controls about 40% of Gaza City.

It has been declared a combat zone, with civilians ordered out – particularly areas designated highly dangerous “red zones”.

This week, Axios’ global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid cited Israeli officials who say that the White House is ready to greenlight a Netanyahu-ordered seizure of West Bank Palestinian territory.

“Rubio has signaled to Israeli officials in private meetings that he does not oppose Israel’s West Bank annexations and that the Trump administration will not stand in the way,” wrote Ravid.

IDF footage purporting to show tunnels being detonated in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City…

Explosion of a Hamas terror tunnel located in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

Big bada boom pic.twitter.com/xDzuimx3lr

— Cheryl E (@CherylWroteIt) September 4, 2025

Still, Trump has cautioned that even though Israel may be winning the war, it is losing global opinion. Despite such statements, the White House hasn’t done much to bring serious pressure to bear on Tel Aviv.