Smoke rises during Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
(JTA) — Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza overnight, bringing an end to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire after two months.
Israeli leaders announced in the early hours of Tuesday morning, local time, that they ordered the strikes after Hamas would not agree to frameworks for a hostage deal proposed by Israel and the United States.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. “This follows 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.”
Hamas said Israel had broken the ceasefire unilaterally.
The airstrikes plunge the region back into war following two months of tense quiet during which Hamas released dozens of hostages, most of them living, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, while aid flowed into the Gaza Strip. It was the longest period of calm since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that began the war.
The ceasefire paused more than a year of brutal, unceasing fighting, and began in January with the intention of proceeding to a second stage in which Israel would complete its withdrawal in exchange for the 24 remaining living hostages. But there was widespread skepticism that the second stage would manifest, and negotiations over extending the truce began to falter almost as soon as they commenced.
Israel refused to agree to a deal that would leave Hamas in power, and Hamas rebuffed U.S.-endorsed proposals that would see a 50-day truce in which half the hostages would be released at the start and the other half released upon adoption of a permanent ceasefire. Hamas then proposed releasing one living hostage — American Edan Alexander — in addition to four dead hostages. Israel declined that proposal as insufficient, and Hamas likewise did not accept a new proposal from Witkoff.
Fifty-nine Israeli hostages remain held in Gaza.
Israel cut off aid and electricity to Gaza as negotiations sputtered, and President Donald Trump threatened Hamas, posting, “Shalom Hamas” and adding, “Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.”
Now, Israel is striking Hamas fighters, fortifications and weapons stores, according to Israeli media. New ground operations by Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza have not been announced.
“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,” Netanyahu’s announcement said. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
The renewed strikes come during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and in the runup to the Jewish holiday of Passover. They also took place as Netanyahu is pushing ahead with a contentious decision to fire the head of the Shin Bet intelligence service while his staff is being investigated for illicit dealings with Qatar. Major protests were planned in Israel in the coming days over that move.
