DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel launched new strikes against Hamas and promised “increasing military force” after talks on further hostage releases stalled, Israel’s Office of the Prime Minister said Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement its military is “currently attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving the war goals as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all our hostages – living and dead.”
The statement said Israel was resuming military strikes because of Hamas’ repeated refusals to release its hostages and its rejection of all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators.
The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month-long war where dozens of hostages were released for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
On Friday, Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-nationals who had died in captivity. Netanyahu’s office cast doubt on the offer last week, accusing the U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group of trying to manipulate talks underway in Qatar on the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
In a separate Friday statement, Hamas official Husam Badran reaffirmed what he said was Hamas’ commitment to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in all its phases, warning that any Israeli deviation from the terms would return negotiations to square one.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
