Netanyahu warns that negotiations with Hamas will be ‘under fire’ from now on
The Israeli Air Force has bombed several points in the Gaza Strip for the second consecutive night after the collapse of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), around 20 targets were attacked, including Hamas military infrastructure in the north of the Palestinian enclave where rockets were being prepared to be launched into Israeli territory. In addition, the Israeli Navy attacked several Islamic Jihad boats off the Gaza coast which, according to the Israeli authorities, were being used for terrorist purposes.
Since Israel resumed the offensive in Gaza, more than 400 people have died, according to figures from the Ministry of Health of the territory, which is controlled by Hamas. The Gazan authorities also accuse the Israeli army of attacking a United Nations compound in the centre of the enclave, something the IDF denies.
Hamas has also confirmed the deaths of at least six senior officials of the terrorist group in the Israeli attacks, including the head of the Hamas civil government, an official from the Ministry of Justice and two heads of security agencies. Al-Jazeera also reported the death of the spokesman for Islamic Jihad.
After resuming attacks against Hamas in Gaza and amid mass protests in Israel against this decision, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that negotiations with Hamas will be ‘under fire’ from now on.
Tonight in Tel Aviv: six former hostages tell a huge protest rally the bitter truth from personal experience:
— Fania Oz-Salzberger 🇮🇱🟣⚖️ פניה עוז-זלצברגר (@faniaoz) March 18, 2025
renewing attacks on Gaza will not release the surviving hostages but kill them, either by bombs or by Hamas guards’ brutality when ceasefire is broken. https://t.co/Y6vyeMIpp9
The Israeli leader has accused Hamas of rejecting the proposals ‘time and time again’, claiming that the Palestinian group never intended to comply with the next phase of the agreement, which would have included Israel's total withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
‘Israel will now act against Hamas with increasing force,’ Netanyahu said in a televised address. ‘Hamas has already felt our military power in the last 24 hours. I promise you, and them too, that this is only the beginning. We will continue to fight until we achieve all our war aims. Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,’ he added.
Netanyahu also addressed the families of the hostages, who in the last few hours have organised protests demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Despite the requests of the families, the Israeli prime minister has assured them that in the past ‘military pressure has been shown to be a necessary condition for the release of more hostages’.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening:
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 18, 2025
“Hamas is responsible for this war.
It invaded our towns, murdered our people, raped our women and kidnapped our loved ones.
Hamas refused offer after offer to release our hostages.https://t.co/9uFyUkWvhy pic.twitter.com/NFOFtfjpJB
Before Netanyahu's speech, the Minister of Defence, Israel Katz, warned that ‘the rules of the game have changed’, reiterating that Israel will not cease fighting ‘until all the hostages return home and all threats to residents’ of the Jewish state are eliminated.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the Saudi media outlet Asharq News that the terrorist group is not seeking new ceasefire negotiations, arguing that Israel should adhere to past agreements.
The march to Jerusalem on Highway 1. Credit Eitan Slonim pic.twitter.com/m62A5kiRHx
— We Are All Hostages (@AllHostages) March 19, 2025
‘Hamas has not closed the door to negotiations, but there is no need for new agreements given the existing one, signed by all parties,’ he said, warning that the continuation of Israeli attacks on Gaza would result in the deaths of numerous Israeli hostages.
In response to the attacks on Gaza, the Houthis of Yemen fired a missile towards Israel for the first time since the start of the ceasefire, causing sirens to sound in the Negev desert in the south of the country, although it was intercepted before reaching Israeli territory.
