The News
Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza Tuesday as the fragile two-month ceasefire with Hamas collapsed, with hundreds of people reported killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “increasing military force” against Hamas over the group’s “repeated refusal” to release more hostages. The US was briefed before the strikes took place, the White House confirmed.
Hamas said Israel was exposing the remaining hostages held in Gaza to “an unknown fate,” and called on international mediators and the United Nations to intervene, the BBC reported. Hamas’ highest-ranking security official, Mahmoud Abu Wafah, was also apparently killed in the strikes, according to the outlet.
SIGNALS
Israel tips back toward war as a means to pressure Hamas
Negotiations to extend the Hamas-Israel ceasefire have been stalled for weeks as both sides failed to agree on how to end the war and Hamas’ future. Israel appears to have returned to a wartime posture on Gaza to break that deadlock, The New York Times wrote: The assault could be a potent reminder of what Hamas would be returning to if it does not concede, although one former Israeli military intelligence official warned that it was also possible that “we will find ourselves in a limited war of attrition: ongoing airstrikes but no readiness from Hamas to give up.” Arab nations put forward a peace plan earlier this month — supported by several European leaders — but reports have suggested that the UAE lobbied the Trump administration against it.
Renewed strikes could inflame internal divisions in Israel
Within Israel, the strikes are likely to “worsen deep internal fissures,” The Associated Press wrote, as returned hostages and families ramp up pressure on the government to negotiate the release of those remaining in Gaza — an objective polls show a majority of Israelis support, The Times of Israel noted. The move could also inflame disagreements in Benjamin Netanyahu’s own government: A day before the strikes, the Israeli prime minister said he would remove one of the country’s top security chiefs, Ronen Bar, who was known to frequently challenge Netanyahu over his handling of the war — his firing, The Times wrote, “risks tearing the nation apart.”
Washington support for Israel underscores other global divides
Washington’s blanket support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s war aims in Gaza underscores the growing divisions between the Trump administration and other world institutions and governments: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by the renewed strikes, and officials from countries including Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt, Australia also condemned the action. Hamas has sought to specifically hold the US responsible for the deaths of Gazan civilians: The Guardian’s international security correspondent Jason Bourke said US rearmament of Israel and Donald Trump’s increasingly staunch support for the Israeli prime minister had likely emboldened Netanyahu to resume the strikes.