An injured Palestinian is brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after Israel resumed strikes on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday. (Reuters)
Israel’s military launched deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, endangering its fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas after the first phase of the deal expired earlier this month and as negotiators struggled to reach consensus on next steps.
In an announcement, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency said it was conducting “extensive strikes” on purported Hamas targets in the enclave. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told the IDF to “take strong action” against Hamas, citing its alleged “repeated refusal” to release hostages and “its rejection of all the proposals it has received” from mediators and the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
At least 20 Palestinians, including five children, were killed in the strikes and another 50 were wounded, Medhat Abbas, the head of the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Washington Post in a WhatsApp message.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes and demanded that mediators hold Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement.” It also accused Israel of “exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate.”
Hamas in recent weeks has insisted on negotiations to reach a second phase of the deal, which would have included a permanent end to the war. Meanwhile, Israel has pushed for a temporary truce to secure the release of more hostages, halting the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza over the dispute earlier this month.