Israel's defence minister has said its forces are 'tightening the siege' around Gaza City by extending its control of a military corridor across the territory towards the coast. Israel Katz also issued a final warning to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the city to evacuate southwards, saying those who remained during the offensive against Hamas would be 'terrorists and supporters of terror'. Hospitals reported that 45 people had been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza City on Wednesday, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had been forced to suspend operations there. Israel is stepping up the assault as Hamas weighs its response to US President Donald Trump's new plan to end the war. Arab and Turkish mediators are understood to be pressing for a positive response, but a senior Hamas figure has said the group is likely to reject it. The IDF has described Gaza City as Hamas's 'last stronghold' and said the offensive aims to secure the release of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas - 20 of whom are believed to be alive - and ensure the Palestinian armed group's 'decisive defeat'. Israel's defence minister told Israeli media that the IDF was 'currently completing the capture of the Netzarim corridor to the western coast of Gaza'. 'This will tighten the siege around Gaza City, and anyone leaving it south will be forced to pass through the IDF's checkpoints,' the Haaretz newspaper quoted Katz as saying.