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Israel has launched “extensive strikes” in Gaza, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in what appeared to be the most intense assault on the enclave since a ceasefire took effect in January.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a post on X that Israeli Defense Forces were attacking Hamas terrorist targets in the strip because of “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages” and the group’s “rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators”.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The first stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect in January and involved the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza in return for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, ended earlier this month.
International mediators including the US have been trying to extend the truce and secure the release of the remaining hostages held by the militant group.
Israel had only returned to the negotiating table last week, dispatching a team to Doha for the first talks since US President Donald Trump took office, after direct talks between Washington and Hamas stalled. Talks are being mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
Israel’s military action also comes after Netanyahu removed Ronen Bar, the head of domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, and David Barnea, the director of foreign spy agency Mossad, from his country’s negotiating team. The prime minister claimed the intelligence chiefs were negotiating too softly.
