Sky News halted for devastating breaking alert: 'The gates of hell will open'

Sky News came to a screeching halt minutes into the morning show as they issued an urgent warning coming from Gaza. On Friday (August 22), the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, threatened to turn Gaza City into "Rafah and Beit Hanoun" - meaning leaving it in ruins - unless the militant group Hamas agrees to Israel's conditions for ending the war. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are preparing for a fresh offensive into Gaza City, which was approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (August 21).

The presenter halted the show after Israel Katz took to X - formerly known as Twitter - to announce the country's latest military plans online. The broadcaster read out his statement, which read: "We approved yesterday the IDF's plans to defeat Hamas in Gaza with intense fire, evacuation of residents and manoeuvring".

He goes on to say: "Soon the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas' murderers and rapists in Gaza until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament".

Israel Katz goes on: "If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Exactly as I promised, so it shall be". This news comes days after tanks and artillery were spotted moving into the suburbs of Gaza City ahead of what Israel has talked about being a major offensive that they're planning.

They've also talked about calling up 60,000 reservists to take part in the war effort. Netanyahu has said Israel intends to fully occupy the Gaza Strip. Israel's military said it controls about 75% of Gaza.

Most of its population of about 2million has been displaced multiple times in the last two years following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks that took the lives of approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave.

Meanwhile, famine has been confirmed in Gaza for the first time. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised its classification to Phase 5, the worst level, on Friday.

More than one million people are preparing to flee Gaza City and the surrounding areas as the army orders civilians to evacuate ahead of the expected assault. Despite the invasion, Netanyahu has said he has ordered negotiations for the release of all the hostages that remain in Gaza.

In a pre-recorded message filmed outside the IDF's Gaza Division headquarters, he said: "I came today to the Gaza Division in order to approve the plans that the IDF presented to me and to the defence minister for taking control of Gaza City and for defeating Hamas."

He added: "At the same time, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and for ending the war under conditions acceptable to Israel." According to the Hamas-run health service in the area, 25 Palestinians have been killed since dawn, including three children.