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OAN Staff James Meyers
8:10 AM – Thursday, March 20, 2025
Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 400, local health officials said, with its deadliest bombardment since the war began with Hamas.
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The order came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the terrorist group refused the Jewish State’s demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Israeli officials said that the operation was open-ended and expected to expand. The Trump administration said they had been told by Israel of the plans and said they are in support of it.
A senior Hamas official said the decision by Netanyahu is a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. The terror group currently holds 59 of the 250 hostages that were taken in the October 7th terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and move to the center of the area, which could mean Israel may begin new ground operations.
The latest move comes as aid groups have warned supplies are running out two weeks after Israel cut off all food, medicine and fuel to Gaza’s two million Palestinians.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
“We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
The Trump administration put the blame on the latest strikes on Hamas. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the terrorist group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
Israel vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting in Gaza until all hostages are returned as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire.
The strikes were by far the biggest and deadliest since a truce took effect in January. Hamas has not responded to the strikes so far.
Hamas has accused the Jewish State of breaching the ceasefire and putting in danger efforts by mediators to secure a permanent ceasefire.
Due to the strikes, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels denounced Israel’s “resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip” and vowed to escalate their own operations, indicating a possible renewal of the Houthis’ strikes on shipping in the Red Sea.
“The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps,” a statement from the group’s Supreme Political Council said.
Over the past weekend, the U.S. launched new airstrikes over the weekend hitting Houthis in Yemen in retaliation for its attack on shipping. More than 53 people were killed in the attacks, according to reports.
President Donald Trump said Iran would “suffer the consequences” for any further Houthi attacks, threatening to widen the conflict further.
Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators from Egypt and Qatar looked to bring both sides to peace after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which had 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais released in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
With U.S. support, Israel had been pushing for the return of the remaining hostages in exchange for a longer-truce to stop the war until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.
However, Hamas has claimed they want to move to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, in accordance with the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua said Tuesday that talks with mediators were continuing, and that the terrorist group was set on completing and putting in place the original Gaza ceasefire deal.
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