Israel
The Israeli strikes on Gaza were the biggest since the ceasefire with Hamas began on January 19.
As truce negotiations stalled, the military said Tuesday it was carrying out “extensive strikes” on Hamas targets in Gaza. According to medics, the attack claimed at least 66 lives, the most since the hostilities started on January 19.
The airstrikes, which occurred during the month of Ramadan, also injured roughly 150 people in various areas, including Gaza City, northern Gaza, and the central and southern Gaza Strip’s Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah, according to rescuers.
According to the “political echelon,” the army is presently “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” according to a post on X.
Afterwards, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the strikes were prompted by “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.”
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” it wrote in a post on X.
Now, it said, Israel would use “increased military strength” to combat Hamas.
Hamas held Mr Netanyahu “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement”.
The hostilities breach “exposes the prisoners in to an unknown fate”, it said in a statement.
A White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted President Donald Trump’s administration before it carried out the strikes.
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks Stall
hostilities agreement, while Hamas said it would resume freeing hostages only under the second phase that was due to begin on March 2.
The initial phase of the hostilities witnessed 33 hostages and five Thais freed by Hamas in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas has still held about 59 hostages.
Hamas announced last week that it had agreed to free American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the four hostage bodies in exchange for starting negotiations on the second phase of the deal right away. However, charged that the Palestinian organization was engaging in “psychological warfare” against the hostage families.
Hamas released hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during the war’s only prior truce, which lasted for one week in November 2023.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a cross-border raid into southern , killing roughly 1,200 people, primarily civilians, sparking the start of the War. They took 251 hostages as well.
Since then, retaliatory attacks have left over 48,000 Palestinians dead and over 1.12 lakh injured.
