Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza following the collapse of talks with Hamas over the release of the remaining hostages and the implementation of the ceasefire.
In a statement in the early hours of Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the strikes are a response to “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the prime minister’s office said.
More than 200 have been killed in the strip since hostilities resumed, Al Jazeera reported, citing authorities in Hamas-run Gaza. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported strikes in the central and southern parts of the densely populated enclave.
Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official as saying that Israel has “unilaterally” ended the ceasefire brokered by the US and Arab states. Under the deal that came into effect on January 19, Hamas handed over 25 hostages and the bodies of eight captives in exchange for the release of around 1,500 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, according to AP.
Israel and Hamas have been unable to agree on next steps since the first phase of the truce expired on March 1. The Israeli government accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare,” and blamed the militant group for the rejection of the plan presented last week by American envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters earlier this month that the group was working with the mediators to “compel” Israel to implement the next phases of the ceasefire.
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