A weekslong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be over after the Israel military launched multiple strikes into Gaza, killing hundreds of people. The new strikes threaten to completely destroy the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which paused a war that had left tens of thousands of people dead in Gaza. Advocates for the remaining Israeli and western hostages in Gaza also objected to Israeli strikes for endangering their captive loved ones.
Israeli strikes kill hundreds in Gaza, including Hamas leaders
Israel launched a series of airstrikes within Gaza that have killed over 400 people, according to Palestinian health
officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the strikes as a response to a breakdown in negotiations with Hamas over an extension of the ceasefire and a stall in negotiations over the release of the 59 hostage believed to still be in Gaza. Israeli officials also described the strikes as a “preemptive offensive” against Hamas, targeting the militant group’s “mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure.” Several Hamas leaders were reportedly killed in the
strikes.
The strikes risk reigniting the war that began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched attacks into Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people, with hundreds of Israelis and Westerners seized as hostages and taken into Gaza. Israeli retaliation led to over a year of war that killed tens of thousands of Gazans, largely civilians, and destroyed much of the infrastructure of the territory. Critics have accused Israeli forces of genocide and ethnic cleansing, charges that were further fueled when President Donald Trump articulated plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza and rebuild the territory as an international resort. The fighting finally paused in January when Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement that included the release of some hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Women and children killed; hostages endangered
The Gazan Health Ministry reported 404 people were killed and over 560 were wounded in the strikes, numbers that have changed as the full fallout of the attacks remains uncertain. Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were killed in the latest round of strikes, according to Palestinian hospitals. The strikes, which occurred during the Muslim holy month Ramadan, endangered a vulnerable civilian population after many Gazans had returned to their largely destroyed homes after more than a year of war and bombings.
The attacks also come after Israel had cut off food, fuel and aid to Gaza to try to force Hamas to renegotiate the ceasefire agreement. Although nearly three dozen of the remaining hostages are believed to be already dead, advocates for the captives fear that the strikes will endanger the lives of the rest of the hostages being held in Gaza. The timing of the strikes seems to have boosted Netanyahu’s right-wing political coalition and distracted from his personal legal issues during a time when the prime minister had been facing protests over his handling of the Gaza crisis.
Whatever political consequences arise from the latest strikes, the human cost has already been immense for Palestinians and could grow, with the remaining hostages also endangered. With violence in Syria and rising tensions with Yemen linked to Israel and the conflict in Gaza, fears persist of a larger Middle Eastern conflict that could engulf the region.
