Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israel will take more territory in Gaza and fight until Hamas is wiped out if the Palestinian terrorist group keeps refusing to free remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

He spoke as mediators continued efforts to salvage Gaza‘s ceasefire deal, which ended when Israel resumed military operations on March 18 after it and Hamas failed to agree on terms for an extension of the two-month-old truce.

Israel has said it will never again accept Hamas governance and military power in Gaza following the terrorists’ Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border invasion and brutal massacre that led to the Gaza war.

The Israeli military said last week that its forces had begun a focused ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip after it resumed bombardments in the enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the new campaign is to force the Islamist militants to release remaining hostages.

“If Hamas continues with its intransigence, it will pay heavy prices that get higher and higher in the taking of territory [by Israel] and in taking out militants and terror infrastructure until its complete surrender,” Katz said in a video reported by Israeli media.

The latest offensive has been among the deadliest since the conflict began 17 months ago, splintering a shaky ceasefire that had largely prevailed since it went into effect on Jan. 19.

Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 thought to be still alive, among the more than 250 it seized in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Most of the rest have been freed, or their bodies handed over, in negotiated exchanges.

Israel responded to the Oct. 7 massacre with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.