Ceasefire over as Israel strikes Gaza after Hamas refused to release hostages, officials say
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is over as Israeli fighter jets began striking the Gaza Strip after Hamas refused repeated hostage deal offers, officials said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began striking Hamas terrorist targets across Gaza "in order to achieve the war objectives set by the political leadership, including the release of all our hostages—both the living and the fallen," the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a letter.
"This decision comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all proposals presented by U.S. President's envoy, Steve Witkoff, as well as the mediators," the letter states.
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Israel will intensify its military actions against Hamas moving forward, authorities said.
"Under the direction of the political echelon, the IDF and Shin Bet are widely attacking terrorist targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, more details below," the IDF and Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, said in a joint statement.
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The IDF launched a series of preemptive strikes targeting mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, an Israeli official told Fox News. The military offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes, the official said.
Dozens of targets were chosen, based on Hamas readiness to execute terror attacks, and build up and re-arm its forces. Following a situational assessment by Katz and the IDF officials, a decision was been made not to open up schools and educational activities in the Gaza Envelope, authorities said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes came after Hamas "rejected all offers it received" from the Trump administration's special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff and the other mediators.
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"Tonight, we returned to fighting in Gaza due to Hamas' refusal to release the hostages and threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities," Katz said. "If Hamas does not release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open in Gaza, and Hamas' murderers and rapists will meet the IDF with forces they have never known before."
He noted that Israel "will not stop fighting until all the hostages return home and all the war's goals are achieved."
In a statement, Hamas blamed Netanyahu "and the Nazi Zionist occupation fully responsible for the repercussions of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, and for the defenseless civilians and our besieged Palestinian people, who are subjected to a brutal war and a systematic policy of starvation."
The terror group called for the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to urgently convene to adopt a resolution demanding Israel halt military operations and fully withdraw from Gaza and for Muslim nations to back Palestinian resistance.
Hamas has insisted on sticking with the original terms of the deal, with Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages.
Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas's governing and military capabilities have been destroyed.
The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month-long war where dozens of hostages were released for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, Israeli forces launched airstrikes in Gaza, southern Lebanon and southern Syria. The IDF said it was targeting terrorists plotting attacks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Ceasefire over as Israel strikes Gaza after Hamas refused to release hostages, officials say
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