Early on Tuesday morning, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) launched a series of significant strikes targeting Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. These actions were taken in coordination with the political leadership, as confirmed in a joint statement from the IDF and Shin Bet. Reports from Gaza indicated numerous casualties, with both deaths and injuries resulting from the Israeli airstrikes that reportedly targeted several locations.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.” The statement continued, noting that “This follows 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 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,” the statement further emphasized.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength. The operational plan was presented by the IDF over the weekend and approved by the political leadership,” it concluded.
Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to the escalation in Gaza, stating, “Tonight, we resumed fighting in Gaza due to Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages and its threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities.”
Katz warned, “If Hamas does not release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open in Gaza, and the murderers and rapists of Hamas will face the IDF with intensities they have never known before. We will not stop fighting until all the hostages return home and all the war objectives are achieved.”
As the fighting resumed, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced that the IDF Home Front Command had updated its defensive protocols, effective as of 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. These changes meant that communities near the Gaza Strip would shift from Full Activity to Limited Activity, which includes a halt on educational activities. However, the areas of Western Negev and Western Lachish remained at Full Activity.
The escalation followed a strategic discussion held two days earlier by Netanyahu, which involved ministers, the negotiating team, and the leaders of Israel’s defense echelon. In that meeting, Netanyahu instructed the negotiating team to continue preparing for talks aimed at securing the immediate release of 11 living hostages and around half of the deceased hostages, as part of the response to Witkoff’s proposal.
On Friday, Witkoff stated that Hamas was making “unrealistic” demands behind closed doors, even though they had publicly shown a willingness to release hostage Edan Alexander and the remains of four dual-citizen hostages.
“Hamas is making a very poor gamble by believing that time is on its side. That is not the case. Hamas is well aware of the deadline and must understand that we will respond accordingly if it passes,” Witkoff said.
He further explained, “According to the mediation proposal, Hamas will release live hostages in exchange for prisoners based on previous formulas. The first stage of the ceasefire will be extended to allow for the resumption of significant humanitarian aid, and the US will work to achieve a stable solution to the ongoing conflict during the extended ceasefire period.”
“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly declaring flexibility while secretly presenting demands that are completely impossible without a permanent ceasefire,” he added.
On Thursday, reports surfaced indicating that under Witkoff’s latest proposal, the ceasefire would be extended for 50 days, during which Israel would release convicted terrorists in exchange for the release of several hostages.
During this period, talks would continue on the second phase of the deal, which would involve a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, even though Hamas had repeatedly violated the ceasefire.
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