The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday local time, after the terror group refused repeated attempts to extend a ceasefire and release all of its remaining Israeli and American hostages.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said (translated from Hebrew by the Government Press Office):
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our 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 IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.
Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.
The operational plan was presented by the IDF over the weekend and approved by the political leadership.
Israel had accepted, but Hamas had refused, a proposal by President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steven Witkoff, to extend the ceasefire into a second phase, during which half of the roughly 60 hostages, both living and dead, would be released at the start, and half at the end. As Breitbart News reported, Hamas proposed instead that only the American hostages — one living and four dead — be released. The Trump administration rejected that deal.
Trump had repeatedly warned Hamas that he would not restrain Israel from responding as it saw fit. Israel held off on acting against Hamas, given that the fate of the remaining 24 living hostages hung in the balance, but finally acted.
The IDF appeared to be preparing for a full resumption of hostilities, as it ordered schools closed in communities near the Gaza Strip, given the risk — even now, with Hamas largely defeated and depleted — of rocket fire from Gaza.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Read the full article here
