Why has Israel launched dozens of strikes on Gaza – and what occurs now over the ceasefire?
Israel’s military has launched dozens of strikes on targets across the Gaza Strip, shattering a ceasefire with Hamas.
Health officials in the Hamas-run strip said more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, which hit densely populated areas. In Rafah, in southern Gaza, 17 members of a single family were killed, including women and children.
The Israeli military said in a statement: “This preemptive offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes.”
Here’s what we know about the strikes, and what could happen next.
Why did Israel launch the attacks?
The war in Gaza was triggered by an attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken captive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strikes were ordered after Hamas’s “repeated refusal to release our hostages”.
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire deal was brokered to temporarily halt the conflict, with Israel’s retaliatory offensive inside Gaza having killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza’s health ministry, and laid waste to the territory home to 2.3 million people, who face severe shortages of medicine, fuel and food.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. Hamas still holds 59 hostages.
The Israeli military said it launched a series of “preemptive strikes targeting mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
In a statement issued shortly after strikes began, Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas would be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it did not release all remaining hostages it holds.
Casualties included senior Hamas officials, including political leaders and ministers, as well as many women and children, according to medics and Palestinian officials in Gaza.
The Israeli military said it was prepared to spread out in “all areas”, including through increased personnel at borders and the Aerial Defence Array.
In the wake of the new strikes, Hamas accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire and jeopardising efforts by mediators to secure a permanent truce.
What has happened to the ceasefire?
The ceasefire agreement involved a three-phase plan. Under the first, six-week phase, Hamas returned 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight others, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israeli troops also withdrew from some buffer zones in Gasa allowing displaced Palestinians to return home to northern Gaza.
Negotiations over phase two were meant to lead to a long-term ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the return of all hostages taken by Hamas during the 7 October attack.
But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.
Israel has cut off all aid to Gaz in a bid to pressure Hamas to accept a new proposal – the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for further prisoner releases and a 30- to 60-day truce.
Hamas has refused such a proposal, which does not mention any release of Palestinian prisoners, and has accused Israel of trying to sabotage the existing agreement. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
What has the White House said?
The White House confirmed it had been consulted by Israel ahead of the strikes, and blamed Hamas for the attack.
National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said Hamas “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war”.
US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who had aided mediation efforts, had earlier demanded Hamas release the remaining live hostages “or pay a severe price”.
Mr Netanyahu’s office also said that Hamas had “rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”
Is any peace deal now over?
A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Risheq, said Mr Netanyahu’s decision to return to war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages
The families of Israeli hostages said their “greatest fear” had been realised, saying the conflict risked the lives of their loved ones and urged an immediate return to a ceasefire.
“The lives of our loved ones hang by a thread and cannot endure much longer. After surviving months in captivity against all odds, they are now in critical danger,” a statement from the families said.
The families also urged mediators to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.
“The window for saving our loved ones is closing. They cannot survive much longer. The time for action is now,” they said.
Hamas has urged mediators to hold Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement.”
What will happen next?
Israel’s military has ordered an evacuation of parts of eastern Gaza. The evacuation orders, which cover the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, suggest that Israeli troops may launch renewed ground operations.
A return to war would allow Mr Netanyahu to avoid the tough trade-offs called for in the second phase of the agreement and the thorny question of who would govern Gaza. It would also shore up his coalition, which depends on hardline populist parties who want to see the war continue until Hamas is completely destroyed.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the strikes on Gaza will continue.
“The Security Council will convene tomorrow to discuss the situation in Gaza. It is time for the countries of the world to take seriously our unwavering commitment to bring back all our hostages home and defeat the enemy,” he wrote on X.
“Nothing will stop us from fighting to free our hostages who have been held in brutal Hamas captivity for 527 days. We will show no mercy against our enemies while our hostages languish in Hamas terror tunnels.”
But Mr Netanyahu will face pressure over the remaining hostages. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all captives.
Mass demonstrations are planned for both Tuesday and Wednesday
Source: independent.co.uk
