Israel Urges Hamas to Surrender as Military Pounds Urban Center in Gaza

Foreign Minister Says War Can End Instantly if Militants Free Hostages and Disarm

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JERUSALEM/CAIRO - Israel again called on Hamas to surrender on Sept. 7, as the military carried out strikes on Gaza's largest urban center, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are seeking shelter.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem that the war could end immediately if Hamas released the remaining hostages being held in Gaza and laid down its weapons.

"We will be more than happy to reach this objective with political means," he said.

In response, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters it would not lay down its arms but would release all the hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza. This stance has long been the Palestinian militant group's position.

Israel in August launched an assault on Gaza City, the major urban center, and its forces are now just a few kilometers from the city center. Overnight, strikes killed 14 people across the city, local health officials said, including a strike on a school in southern Gaza City sheltering displaced Palestinians.

In response to Reuters questions about the strike on the school, the military said it had struck a Hamas militant and that civilians had been warned beforehand.

Israeli forces would "continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip in order to remove any threat to Israeli civilians," a military spokesperson said.