Jerusalem: Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel was killed in an Israeli airstrike by Khan Younis, Gaza, a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict. The strike also announced the Israel Times, the life of Salah al-Bardaweel’s wife, citing pro-Hamas media.
The strike is part of a wider Israeli military operation against Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip. The offensive came after the collapse of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, crushing a fragile truce that has been around since January 19.
The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, believes that Hamas continues to refuse to release the hostages and reject proposals mediated by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, justifies the new military action.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office stressed that the IDF was directed to strengthen the strike against Hamas with the aim of dismantling the team into a military force, and is also the governing body of Gaza. “From now on, Israel will take action against Hamas with increasing military strength. The action plan was proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (IDF) over the weekend and approved by political leaders,” the statement said.
The collapse of the armistice negotiations is a key trigger for escalation. Israel attempted to expand the first phase of the three-phase agreement, while Hamas insisted on moving forward to the second phase, initially scheduled to begin on March 2, which included additional hostage exchanges.
In the initial stage, Hamas released 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. However, the group still holds about 59 hostages, prompting Israel to strengthen its military movement.
Netanyahu maintained a firm stance that the main goal of the war was to completely remove Hamas. He said the latest offense was designed to force Hamas to surrender the remaining hostages.
In addition to Salah al-Bardaweel, the Israeli air strikes targeted and killed other senior Hamas officials, including Essam Addales, the de facto government head and internal security chief of Hamas, Mahmoud Abu Watfa.
