The Israeli strike wave killed hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday (March 18, 2025), the culmination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to agree to leave the ceasefire with Hamas in January.
Mr. Netanyahu has faced duels since the war began, and may be incompatible pressure: the hostages’ families want him to reach a deal with Hamas to free them, while his far-right alliance partners want to continue the war to annihilate the armed groups.
On Tuesday, he appeared to have cast his role with the latter – the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump supported Netanyahu’s decision to leave unilaterally to stay away from a ceasefire with brokers.
Both Israel and the United States blame Hamas for refusing to release more hostages and then negotiate to end the war lawsuit – which is not part of the Ceasefire Agreement. Israel accused Hamas of preparing for the new attack without providing evidence. The radical groups denied the allegations.
Israel accuses Hamas of preparing for new attacks
Hamas has not responded to the Israeli strike yet – it has taken weeks to conduct serious negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which calls for the release of the remaining hostages of life in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners to evacuate Israel from Gaza and the lasting ceasefire.
These conversations were supposed to start in early February. Now they may never happen.
The agreement, which was reached in January, called for a ceasefire to be stopped under pressure from the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump alone, aimed at freeing all hostages kidnapped by Hamas, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, attacking and ending the war caused.
Read Also | Netanyahu threatens to end Gaza ceasefire if Hamas does not return to hostages
During the first phase from January 19 to March 1, Hamas released 25 species of Israeli hostages and bodies of eight other people in exchange for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving sentences for the deadly attack. Israeli forces pulled back a buffer to the buffer, thousands of Palestinians returned to their remaining homes, and a surge in humanitarian aid.
Both sides accused the other of illegality, Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians, accused of engaging in radical activities or entering unscrupulous troops. But a truce was held.
Still, the second phase is always considered more difficult.
Through months of negotiations, Mr. Netanyahu repeatedly expressed doubts about this, insisting that Israel is committed to returning to all hostages and destroying Hamas’ military and management capabilities – two war targets that many consider are unregulated.
New strike against Gaza to maintain Netanyahu’s power
In a television interview last June, Mr. Netanyahu had doubts about the possibility of a protracted ceasefire before Hamas was destroyed. “We are committed to a halt of war to accomplish the goal of eliminating Hamas. I am not willing to give up that,” he said.
On January 18, on the eve of the ceasefire, he said: “We reserve the right to return to war with the support of the United States.”
Agreeing to a permanent ceasefire is almost certain to fall into a political crisis that could end his almost uninterrupted 15-year reign.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezales Smotrich threatened to leave the league if Netanyahu enters the second phase instead of starting the offensive again. The opposition has promised to support him in any agreement to take the hostages, but his alliance will still be severely weakened, making early elections possible.
By resuming the fight, Netanyahu secured Mr. Smotrich’s continued support. After the strike, Israeli leaders regained another far-right partner, Itama Ben-Gvir, whose party had run wild on the ceasefire in January but returned to the coalition on Tuesday.
Apart from political horse racing, Mr. Netanyahu’s statement aims to annihilate Hamas, and he is almost certain that he will avoid him if he insists on a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas survived Israeli bombing and ground operations for 15 months, killing more than 48,000 Palestinians and destroying much of Gaza, according to local health officials. When the truce continued, the radical groups immediately reestablished their rule.
Who should rule Gaza after the war, even if the Western-backed Palestinian authorities gain nominal control, Hamas would have a strong impact on the ground and could rebuild its military capabilities.
For many Israelis, especially Mr. Netanyahu’s hawkish base and far-right allies, it looks like a failure. This would increase his criticism of the security failure of the October 7 attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and were kidnapped 251.
After the first phase, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel agreed to what he said was a new proposal in which Hamas would release half of the hostages in exchange for a seven-week extension of the armistice and make vague promises for negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.
Hamas declined to point out that the new proposal was different from the one they agreed in January and again called for an immediate talks in the second phase.
It even offered to return to the United States – the bodies of Israel and four other hostages to get the negotiations back on track, a proposal that was rejected by Israel’s “psychological warfare.” Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas claimed to make “completely unrealistic” demands in the public.
To impose the new arrangement on Hamas, Israel has stopped importing all food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to Gaza. Later, it cut off the power, affecting an important desalination plant. Israel also said it will not withdraw from the strategic corridors of the Gaza-Egypt border, as stated in the agreement.
Israel has been on strike in Gaza in recent days, targeting people it says are growing explosives or engaging in other radical activities. It launched one of its deadliest strikes at around 2 a.m. Tuesday since the war began.
President Trump has been commemorated by a ceasefire in January, but seems displeased with it since. He warned that if Hamas does not release the hostages immediately, “all hells” will break down, while saying it was a decision made against Israel.
President Trump also suggested that approximately 2 million Palestinians in Gaza be permanently relocated so that the United States can own Gaza and develop it as a tourist destination. Netanyahu accepted the plan, which was widely condemned by experts from Palestinian, Arab countries and human rights who said it would violate international law.
The White House said it consulted ahead of Tuesday’s strike and supported Israel’s decision.
publishing – March 19, 2025 at 07:50 am
