After a 58-day ceasefire and a halt in military operations between Israel and Hamas, Israel resumed its air strikes at dawn on Tuesday, 18 March, with no prior warning. The stated pretext was to pressure Hamas’s negotiating delegation into the unconditional release of half the Israeli detainees in its custody. Israel estimates that Hamas still holds 59 Israelis, 28 of whom are dead.
The resumption saw both wide-scale bombing and targeted assassinations across more than 100 sites. On only the first day of the war's resumption, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported more than 400 killed, including 174 children, 89 women, and 32 elderly residents.
Two members of the Hamas political bureau—Yasser Harb and Muhammad al-Jamasi—were killed in strikes on their homes, along with Issam al-Daalis, head of the group’s governmental work committee, who had survived an earlier Israeli assassination.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice Ahmed al-Hatta and Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Abu Watfa, both members of the Hamas cabinet, were also killed, as was Director-General of the Internal Security Agency Maj. Gen. Bahjat Abu Sultan. Since Tuesday, strikes have continued, with at least 700 killed, including over 200 children, in the short span of three days.
Flimsy claim
Many have questioned the true motivations behind Israel’s decision to resume military operations and assassinations, with doubts about claims that the strikes were unplanned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion—that he and his cabinet ordered the offensive solely to pressure Hamas into returning to negotiations and releasing detainees—doesn't hold water.
Previously, Hamas and Israel had reached an agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange that came into effect on 19 January, following a 470-day genocidal Israeli military campaign.
The deal—brokered with help from Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediators—began with the implementation of its first phase, which lasted 42 days and went considerably smoothly. During this period, Hamas and other Palestinian factions released 33 detainees, including eight bodies, while Israel released around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners—many of whom were being held without charge.
The agreement allowed for the entry of humanitarian aid trucks and the limited evacuation of patients from Gaza, although the number of those allowed to travel fell short of what had been agreed. Israel also partially withdrew its forces from city centres and refugee camps to border areas within the Gaza Strip.
According to the agreement, a complete withdrawal and further prisoner exchanges were due to follow in the second phase, but Israel delayed negotiations for this phase, then demanded an extension of the first phase. Hamas said no, insisting both sides move to phase two.
