Israel's Katz says evacuations to begin soon from Gaza combat zones

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the evacuation of people from combat zones in the Gaza Strip would soon continue and urged the population to "remove Hamas."

In a video address, Katz said that airstrikes on Hamas targets were only the first step, and warned that what follows would be much worse, without giving details.

Katz told the residents of the devastated coastal area that they will "pay the full price."

"Return the hostages and remove Hamas," the defence minister demanded, adding that this would provide Gazans with new opportunities such as migration to other countries.

"The alternative is total devastation," he said, vowing that Israel would act with a force that people in the Gaza Strip had never seen before.

There have been recent warnings, including from Germany, urging Israel not to collectively punish the civilian population for the actions of Hamas.

For the first time since a ceasefire began about two months ago, the Israeli air force on Tuesday extensively bombarded Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) targets in the Gaza Strip.

According to the military, ground troops have also been deployed again.