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The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed early on March 18 with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launching dozens of strikes against the Palestinian enclave after receiving orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “act forcefully” against the Hamas Movement.
In a statement, the premier’s office said that the decision to resume strikes “followed Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US special envoy to the Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
The second phase of the ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar last January, was supposed to begin with the start of this month, with the IDF fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages.
Hamas refused a U.S. proposal to extend the ceasefire in exchange for the release of some of the hostages, while Israel refused to complete the withdrawal of its forces.
Netanyahu’s office said that Israel will “act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” adding that the operation, dubbed “Strength and Sword,” is designed to achieve Israel’s war aims — the dismantlement of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and the return of all remaining 59 hostages.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Israel consulted with the Trump administration before restarting the attack on Gaza.
“As President Trump has made it clear: Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize, not just Israel, but the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” she said.
“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes separately told The Times of Israel.
Hamas said in a statement that Netanyahu’s decision to “overturn the ceasefire agreement” exposes the hostages “to an unknown fate.” The group also called on the mediators to hold Netanyahu fully responsible for breaking the ceasefire.
Israeli strikes hit targets across Gaza, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting the death of more than 330 people, including women and children.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement: “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas will be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it doesn’t release all 59 remaining hostages.
“Tonight we returned to fighting in Gaza in light of Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages and amid its threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities,” the minister continued.
“We will not stop fighting until all of the hostages return home and all the war’s aims are achieved,” he added.
The IDF later announced that the strikes targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the group’s political bureau, and its infrastructure. The military added it intends to continue the airstrikes “as long as necessary,” and widen the surprise assault beyond an aerial campaign if it is ordered to.
Two Hamas sources told AFP that among those killed in the strikes was Mahmoud Abu Watfa, who headed the Hamas’ interior ministry.
In addition, Palestinian media said that the strikes killed Issam Da’alis, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza and head of the governmental activity monitoring committee. Abu Ubaida Al-Jamassi, also a member of the group’s political bureau in the Strip, was also killed overnight, reports said.
Two other senior officials who were reportedly killed were Bahjat Abu Sultan, a high-ranking official in Hamas’s interior ministry, and Ahmad Al-Khatta, the director-general of the group’s justice ministry in Gaza.
Doubling down on the escalation, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to Palestinians residing on the edges of Gaza later on in the morning.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of “dangerous combat zones” that Gazans should flee from. They include the towns of Beit Hanoun, Khuza’a, and the Abasan suburbs of Khan Younis.
“The IDF has launched a strong offensive against terror organizations. These designated areas are considered dangerous combat zones,” Adraee said. “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to known shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis.”
The spokesman warned that remaining in the areas marked on the map in red “puts your lives and the lives of your family members in danger.”
All in all, the Israeli strikes appear to be the beginning of a full-flagged operation. A new ground invasion by the IDF seems very likely.
With nearly 49,000 killed and much of Gaza destroyed, Hamas’ best option may be to make concessions and release some of the remaining Israeli hostages. Still, the group has proven in the past that it was able to fight under the harshest conditions.
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in this information age, there’s simply no way they can disinfo their way out of this — and re-write history and look in any way favorably…
why?
they should be proud of the kyllings!
you hasbara pc of shit bastards than really wonder by such inhuman, satanic and arrogant behavior and comments why 6 million of yourealikes were gased and burned?
nothing learned from history?
than history may repeat.
now, what did i tell you?
gayza = gone
rammadamn = gone
peace = out of the window
by this speed of kylling yalla snack the bar will not be able to provide 72 virgins for all.
right now there is a lot of waiting time.
to all ham@ss terrorists: keep your tranny goats at hand to tied you over.
lol
lol
lol
lol
oh, by the way…
what happened there in hooty land?
everybody dead yet??
keep ’em coming
what about the kidnapped babies from israel?
yo, ham@ss, was it worth it?
keep going.
aren’t they fast parading their dead babies…?!
in ww1 +2 ukrops ate their dead kids too.
“over 300 killed as israel restarts attack on gaza”
but the goats are ok???
yes your mother the goat is ok boy. but your father no one knows. because your a bastard son of a thousand fathers all bastards like you 😉
now go and eat some kylling and remember to take medicine for your head. it’s not our fault that you live a loser life 😊 have nice day boy 😊
gods chosen monkeys unable to figure out basics, like civilized behavior. the jews are the world’s ultimate crisis actors. if you study their history, they are always stuck in dumb dramas. that’s why jews do not build civilizations. they always corrupt and destroy them
jews looking to steal yet more land from the palestinians. like hitler netanyahu is prepared to do anything – genocide, ethnic cleansing, operating concentration camp gaza, lebensraum plan for the greater israel plan. netanyahu is a mini-hitler and like hitler, netanyahu will forced to committ suicide in order to avoid the enemy. the jews are presently digging their own grave. lets help them off this world which is not the jews!
remember the “axis of resistance”?
heheheh