Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – Series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, resumed overnight on the orders of Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered "the resumption of the war" against Hamas, after efforts to extend the ceasefire failed. The death toll continues to rise. According to the director of the Strip's Health Ministry, Mohammed Zaqout, the death toll has risen "to at least 330, mostly Palestinian women and children, while the wounded are hundreds"
Among the victims was Major General Mahmoud Abu Watfa, who headed the Interior Ministry of the Hamas government, AFP learned from two sources in the Islamic resistance movement.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said he and Defense Minister Israel Katz had instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to take “strong action against the terror organization Hamas” in the Gaza Strip. “This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all proposals received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators,” Netanyahu’s office said in a post on X. “Israel will now act against Hamas with increasing military force,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement reported by the Times of Israel, adding that plans to resume military operations were approved last week by the political leadership.
Israel will continue to fight in Gaza "until the hostages are returned home and all objectives have been achieved," Katz said.
The White House confirmed that Israel consulted the US administration before launching the new wave of raids. "Hamas could have released the hostages to extend the ceasefire, but instead they chose refusal and war," White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told The Times of Israel, after the resumption of Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip.
For its part, Hamas has declared that Netanyahu, with his decision to "resume the war", "has condemned to death the hostages" who are still in Gaza. "Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to sabotage the ceasefire agreement," the movement accuses in a statement. "Netanyahu's decision to resume the war is the decision to sacrifice the prisoners of the occupation and to impose the death sentence on them." Hamas then denounces that the Israeli prime minister continues to use the war in Gaza as "a lifeboat" to distract from the internal political crisis.
Hamas then urged international mediators to “hold the Israeli occupation fully accountable for the violation of the agreement” and stressed the need to “immediately stop the aggression.”
The ceasefire remained in place for about two and a half weeks after the first phase ended, as mediators worked to broker new terms for the truce extension. Hamas insisted on sticking to the original terms of the agreement, which was supposed to enter into its second phase earlier this month. That phase called for Israel to fully withdraw from Gaza and agree to end the war permanently in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Although Israel signed the agreement, Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’s military and governance capabilities have been destroyed. As a result, Israel has refused to even hold talks on the terms of phase two, which was supposed to begin on February 3.
Yemen's Houthis "condemn the resumption of the Zionist enemy's aggression against the Gaza Strip." "The Palestinians will not be left alone in this battle and Yemen will continue with its support and assistance and will intensify the confrontation," threatens the Houthi Supreme Political Council, which Iran has been accused of supporting for years, as reported by Arab satellite TV.