Israel launches strikes against Hamas, at least 69 dead

In Gaza, explosions could be heard at various locations, and ambulances were arriving at al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.

The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released roughly three dozen hostages in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners.

But since the first phase of the ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward, with a second phase aimed at releasing the nearly 60 remaining hostages and ending the war altogether. Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war, and early this month, he stopped all food and aid deliveries into the besieged territory to put pressure on Hamas.

The war erupted with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, cross-border attack, which killed 1200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 per cent of Gaza’s population.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to what remained of their homes.

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But the territory is coping with vast destruction, with no immediate plans to rebuild. A resumption of the war threatens to reverse any progress made in recent weeks towards halting Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

While the ceasefire largely halted the fighting, Israel has left troops in Gaza throughout the past two months and continued to strike targets, claiming that Palestinians were trying to carry out attacks or approaching troops in no-go zones.

A number of strikes on Tuesday killed a total of 10 people, according to Palestinian officials.

Two strikes in central Gaza hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it had struck militants planting explosives.

An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.

In Syria, meanwhile, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of long-time autocrat Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel says it is a pre-emptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel.

Strikes in the southern Syrian city of Daraa had killed three people and wounded 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defence volunteers, the Syrian Civil Defence Agency said. It said two ambulances had been damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.

The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centres and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.

In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives”. Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people were killed in the strike and two wounded.

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The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon without specifying where. A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November, ending the 14-month war between the two sides, though each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorised areas.

The ceasefire’s first phase resulted in an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

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Egypt, Qatar and the United States had been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the original ceasefire deal, calling for negotiations to begin on the more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.