Israel resumes Gaza airstrikes after Hamas fails to honour ceasefire deal

Bryan Passifiume

Published Mar 18, 2025 • Last updated Mar 18, 2025 • 2 minute read

Palestinians salvage items from the destroyed house of the Qrayqea family in the Shujaiya district in eastern Gaza City on March 18, 2025 following Israeli strikes at dawn. Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA /AFP via Getty Images

JERUSALEM — Renewed Israeli air strikes in Gaza early Tuesday morning spelled an end to the uneasy ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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And sirens sounded throughout southern Israel Tuesday evening as Houthi ballistic missiles fired into the country from Yemen were successfully intercepted — the first such attack by the Iran-backed group since January and the first in an expected wave of retaliation.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) launched the strikes just after 2 a.m. Israeli time, ordered by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu as a result of the terror group’s refusal to release more hostages.

Unverified numbers from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Authority cited 404 deaths in the dozens of strikes.

Hamas does not differentiate between civilian and terrorist deaths.

In a statement posted on social media, Hamas blamed Israel for breaching the ceasefire.

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“We hold the criminal Netanyahu and the Zionist enemy fully responsible for the consequences of the treacherous aggression on Gaza,” the statement read.

Earlier on Tuesday, the terror group called on American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators to place responsibility for renewed fighting solely on Netanyahu, accusing the PM of placing Israel’s remaining hostages “to an unknown fate.”

Officials said the strikes targeted Hamas commanders and officials, as well as terror installations.

Among the dead is Issam Da’alis, Hamas’ de-facto Prime Minister of Gaza — who replaced Rawhi Mushtaha after he was killed in an Israeli strike last July.

The IDF confirmed the director-general of Hamas’s justice ministry was also killed in the strikes, as well as the head of the Hamas interior ministry and chief of the Hamas security force.

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Guns fell silent on both sides following a controversial ceasefire deal in January, which would have seen Israel withdraw completely from Gaza in exchange for the remaining hostages — despite Netanyahu’s assertions that Israel means to completely eradicate Hamas from the region.

Israel, according to a statement from the Israeli PM’s office, will continue targeting Hamas “with increasing military strength.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to unleash “the gates of hell” in Gaza if more hostages aren’t released.

Despite Israel and Hamas once again on the offensive, life continued as normal in Tel Aviv and the Israeli captain of Jerusalem — but in the south in communities close to Gaza, nonessential travel was limited and schools were closed.

As day broke in Israel, leaflets dropped in eastern Gaza warned citizens to move to safer areas in the west, suggesting more air strikes were imminent.

Fifty-nine Israeli hostages remain in Hamas custody since their abduction 529 days ago.

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