Israel, Launching Extensive Airstrikes Against Hamas in Gaza, Warns the ‘Gates of Hell’ Will Open Absent Release of Hostages

Israel launched extensive airstrikes against Hamas in Gaza overnight, warning that “the gates of hell” will open if the hostages aren’t released and triggering claims by the terror group that hundreds have been killed.The IDF began launching airstrikes across Gaza at around 2 a.m. local time in Israel. It reported hit dozens of targets belonging to Hamas. The strikes are in response to the terror group refusing to extend the first phase of the ceasefire.Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel will “act against Hamas with increasing military strength” following Hamas’s repeated refusal to release the remaining 59 hostages as well as its “rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”The plan to resume fighting against Hamas was presented by the IDF over the weekend and approved by the political leadership, according to Mr. Netanyahu. Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire and its commitments to mediators, saying Mr. Netanyahu’s decision “will sacrifice the hostages.”“Israel must understand that continued strikes will amount to a death sentence for the Israeli hostages in Gaza,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Al-Arabi news outlet.A senior Hamas official, Aizat al-Rashq, added that Israel “will not achieve through war and destruction what it failed to achieve through negotiations. Mr. Netanyahu decided to return to fighting as a lifeline from the internal crises in Israel.”Defense Minister Yisrael Katz also issued a threatening statement, saying “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the 59 hostages aren’t released. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News that Israel notified the U.S. ahead of the airstrikes. “As President Trump has made clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but the U.S. — will see a price to pay, and all hell will break loose,” she said, adding: “The Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and Iranian backed terror proxies should take President Trump very seriously when he says he’s not afraid to stand for law-abiding people and stand up for the U.S. and our friend and ally Israel.” The extensive airstrikes reportedly killed Hamas’s deputy interior minister, Mahmoud Abu Watfa, as well Issam Da’alis, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza. Hamas issued conflicting figures on the death toll from the airstrikes, with the head of the health ministry, Mohammed Zaqut, telling AFP that 330 people had been killed, while the ministry put the number at 254. Hamas, typically in these kinds of engagements, rushes out high casualty numbers that are widely discounted by Israel and the United States, including during the Biden administration and continuing into President Trump’s second term. The IDF, meantime, is seeking to minimize casualties. It issued this morning an “urgent” evacuation order to civilians in the neighborhoods of Beit Hanoun, Hazaa, and Absan. “For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to known shelters in western Gaza City and Khan Yunis. Continuing to stay in the area marked in red endangers your lives and the lives of your family members,” IDF’s Arabic spokesman said in a post on X which included a picture with areas where Israeli airstrikes could take place. Israel also took measures in anticipation of renewed rocket fire from Hamas, closing all schools in the Gaza border communities and halting all trains to the city of Sderot. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, meanwhile, lashed out at the government for its wide scale attacks overnight, demanding a renewal of the ceasefire to bring back the hostages. “The greatest fear of the families, the hostages and the citizens of Israel has come true —the Israeli government has chosen to give up on the hostages. We are shocked, angry, and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the hostage forum said. Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the security cabinet, praised the resumed attacks on Hamas, calling it a “gradual process that we have built and planned in recent weeks since the new Chief of Staff took office.“This is the moment for which we remained in the government despite our opposition to the deal, and we are more determined than ever to complete the task and destroy Hamas,” he added.Tuesday’s attack on Hamas comes just days after Mr. Netanyahu fired Shin Bet intelligence chief Ronen Bar over “mistrust” between the two, as well as an Israeli delegation returning from ceasefire negotiations in Cairo on Monday.

Israel, Launching Extensive Airstrikes Against Hamas in Gaza, Warns the ‘Gates of Hell’ Will Open Absent Release of Hostages

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