Early Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces struck the Gaza Strip, breaking the truce agreement that had been in effect since January 19. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the reason for ending the truce was Hamas's refusal to continue the hostage exchange.
Hamas issued a statement accusing Israel of violating the truce, insisting on adhering to the original terms of the deal, which was supposed to enter its second phase at the beginning of the month. This phase provided for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and an agreement to a final end to the war in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.
In Washington, a White House representative stated that Israel consulted with the U.S. administration before carrying out the strikes. «Hamas could have released the hostages to extend the truce, but instead chose refusal and war», — said White House representative Brian Hughes.
According to local health ministry data, more than 130 people were killed and over 300 were injured. At the same time, the Gaza government reported that more than 200 people were victims of the attack.
Israel stated that the targets of the strikes were mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the political bureau, and the movement's infrastructure. As reported by Reuters, among the dead was a senior Hamas official Mohammad al-Jamasi, a member of the political office, and his family members, including grandchildren. A total of at least five senior Hamas officials and their family members were killed.
The Israeli army promised to carry out airstrikes «as long as necessary», and also declared readiness to «expand the scope of the operation beyond the air campaign». Forces for this have already been deployed and are ready to engage «on all fronts», emphasized the IDF.
As reported by Times of Israel, negotiation teams from Israel and Hamas have been in Doha for the past few weeks, where mediators from Egypt and Qatar tried to bridge the gap between the two sides after the initial phase of the truce ended, which resulted in militants in Gaza returning 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais in exchange for about 2000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel insisted on the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for a longer-term truce that would halt hostilities until the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.
However, Hamas insisted on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in accordance with the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.
Early Tuesday, Hamas released a statement saying that Netanyahu's government's decision to «cancel the ceasefire agreement» subjects the hostages to an «unknown fate». Netanyahu claims that the operation is aimed at achieving Israel's military goals — eliminating Hamas's military and administrative potential and returning all remaining 59 hostages.
Hostage families have long claimed that these goals contradict each other and that returning to hostilities puts their loved ones at risk. Polls conducted over the past month showed that the majority of the Israeli public agrees with the hostage families and supports ending the war in exchange for the release of hostages.
Photo: AFP