Israel's Largest Attack on Gaza Since Ceasefire Kills Over 300

Since the start of the ceasefire with Hamas on January 19, Israel has carried out the largest strikes on Gaza.

New Delhi: The Israeli military carried out "extensive strikes" on Hamas sites Tuesday amid stalled truce talks, killing at least 330 people in Gaza. This was the worst attack in the war-torn area since the ceasefire started on January 19.

The airstrikes, which occurred during the month of Ramadan, killed "mostly children, women, and the elderly" and injured over 150 people, according to Gaza's civil defense service.

The explosions were heard in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.

Mahmud Abu Watfa, who headed Hamas's police and internal security services in the Gaza Strip, was also reportedly killed in the strike on Gaza City.As per the "political echelon," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X this morning that it was "conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip."
Israel also mandated the closure of all schools in the areas surrounding Gaza.

Later, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the strikes were prompted by "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators."

"The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," it stated on X.

It declared that Israel would now use "increased military strength" to combat Hamas.
However, Hamas said that Mr. Netanyahu had chosen to "sacrifice" hostages by starting a new conflict.

The Israeli leader was using the conflict as a political "lifeboat" to divert attention from domestic issues, according to a statement from a Hamas official. "Netanyahu's decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation's prisoners and impose a death sentence on them," the source added.

Hamas said that the ceasefire violation "exposes the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate" and held Mr. Netanyahu "fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement" in a second statement.

Before launching the strikes, Israel conferred with President Donald Trump's administration, according to a White House spokesperson.

Stoppage of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Discussions
Hamas stated it would only commence hostage-freeing under the second part of the three-stage ceasefire agreement, which was scheduled to start on March 2, while Israel sought to extend the first phase, which caused the truce negotiations to stop.

Israel requested that the first phase be extended until the middle of April, stating that "the total demilitarization" of Gaza and the expulsion of Hamas, which has ruled the region since 2007, must be part of any transfer to the second phase.

Hamas claimed last week that if Israel agreed to start negotiations on implementing the second phase of the agreement right away, it would free American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and four of the captives' bodies. However, Israel charged that the organization was engaging in "psychological warfare" against the hostage families.
33 Israeli captives, including five bodies, and five Thais were released by Hamas in exchange for almost 1,800 Palestinian inmates during the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. Approximately 59 hostages are still being held by the gang.

Hamas released hostages in return for Palestinian detainees during the war's only prior truce, which lasted for one week in November 2023.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a cross-border attack into southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people, primarily civilians, sparking the start of the Gaza War. They took 251 hostages as well.

More than 48,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed and over 1.12 lakh injured as a result of Israel's retaliation strikes since then.