Israeli jets bombed Gaza while returning from Iran mission

Telegraph

8 hours ago

Israeli warplanes involved in missions against Iran dropped unused bombs and missiles on Gaza before landing, The Telegraph can reveal.
Military sources have confirmed that, from the early hours of the campaign, pilots on their way home to Israel offered to use leftover munitions against Hamas.
IDF ground commanders accepted the offer, finding targets for the jets, and the initiative was subsequently rolled out more widely across the 12-day campaign against Iran.
It meant Israel was able, to a large extent, to sustain the intensity of its air strikes in Gaza, despite the main focus of the IDF having shifted to Iran.
The military insisted that, despite the initial spontaneity of the scheme, all such strikes were properly planned and conducted against legitimate targets.
The details emerged as optimism rose in Israel and the Palestinian territories that a ceasefire and hostage-release deal could be announced within days.
Hamas was reported to be broadly receptive to an initial 60-day framework, while Israeli sources indicated for the first time that the government was considering a comprehensive deal to end the war for good.
The period June 14 to 24 – when Operation Rising Lion took place and international eyes were focused on Iran – was an intensely bloody time for Gazan civilians, mainly due to multiple shootings near aid-delivery points.
It is not clear how many were killed due to air strikes specifically, but overall the civilian death toll, including from aid-related shootings, was in the hundreds.
It is understood that Maj Gen Tomer Bar, commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), ordered the leftover munitions initiative to be applied widely once he heard about its use.
The IAF surpassed all expectations during the Iran campaign, quickly establishing aerial supremacy over a majority of the country, which allowed them to hunt for targets relating to the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.
Politicians and military officials boasted of a 'highway' to Tehran.
As the campaign proceeded, Israeli warplanes were increasingly utilised to take out Iranian ballistic missile launch sites, to reduce the barrages hitting civilian areas in Israel.
Donald Trump has been keen to use the momentum garnered from the apparent success of the joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran to force a resolution to the war in Gaza.
Repeated efforts to renew the ceasefire have failed since before it broke down in mid-March.
Hamas has continued to insist that any hostage-release deal be accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a commitment to end the war.
The militant group has continued to reject proposals that include vague commitments from Israel to discuss ending the conflict.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has continued to pledge Hamas's total eradication in the Strip.
Although the details are unclear, it is possible that the White House has pressured Israel into offering a more solid commitment to discuss ending the war this time around.
Mr Netanyahu has recently suggested that getting the hostages back was more important than defeating Hamas, having previously presented the war aims as a package.
He has also made bellicose comments about the terror group's destruction over recent days.
However, the prime minister and Israel Katz, his hawkish defence minister, are reported to have expressed support for the outline framework, raising hopes among the families of the hostages.
Between 20 and 22 hostages are thought to still be alive. The remains of at least 28 are also held by Hamas.
Ron Dermer, Mr Netanyahu's key fixer, has been meeting with Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, and dignitaries from Qatar – one of the key mediators – in recent days.
The Israeli prime minister arrives in Washington this weekend, leading to speculation an in-principle announcement could be made during the visit.
If that transpires, formal technical negotiations, likely to be chaired by either Qatar or Egypt, could take at least a week.
Israel has reportedly asked the US to pressure Qatar into threatening to expel Hamas's representatives if no progress on a deal is made.
The kingdom has already ordered the group to surrender its personal weapons.
Although considered an insult among Islamists, the move has been taken as a promising symbolic sign that Qatar, which has been heavily criticised for being too close to some terror groups, including Hamas, is willing to exert pressure.
Some in Israel's government hope that Mr Trump's original threat, announced in February, to clear the entire population from Gaza and redevelop it into a 'Middle East Riviera' could prey on the mind of Hamas leaders unwilling to accept a deal.
Late on Wednesday, it was reported that Hamas would refrain from holding handover ceremonies in any potential deal.
During the previous ceasefire in January and February, Hamas made a big show of returning some of the hostages, during which they forced their Israeli captives, in some cases emaciated, to thank their captors in front of television cameras and to receive release certificates.
It provoked fury in Israel and prompted international criticism.
During a news conference in Estonia, Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, regarding the negotiations, said: 'There are some positive signs.'
There is strong support for an end to the war among the Israeli public.
Although significantly degraded from the force that committed the Oct 7 atrocity, Hamas remains and is still fighting the IDF amid the rubble of Gaza's main cities.