Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to act forcefully against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the terrorist organization repeatedly refused to release Israeli hostages and rejected all proposals received from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and other mediators, Netanyahu’s office reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are “currently striking Hamas sites throughout” the Palestinian enclave with “the goal of achieving the war’s objectives, including the release of all hostages, both alive and deceased.”

The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, managed by Hamas, has reported that Israeli attacks have killed more than 330 people.

A senior Hamas official said today that Israel has decided to sacrifice its hostages by launching massive military operations in the Gaza Strip overnight after the ceasefire reached in January. The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to resume the war is a decision to sacrifice the prisoners of the occupation and impose a death sentence on them,” said Izzat al-Rishq, adding that Netanyahu is using the fighting in the Palestinian enclave as a political “lifeboat” to distract from internal crises within the Israeli state.

Many of the victims were reported in Khan Younis. Among the dead are several children. According to doctors and witnesses, three houses were hit in Deir al-Balah, a building in Gaza City, and targets in Rafah and Khan Younis.

“We will not stop fighting until all the hostages have returned home and all the war’s objectives have been achieved,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz. Among these objectives, besides the return of all hostages (alive and dead), is the destruction of Hamas as a military or political force in the Gaza Strip.

Katz declared that “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas will be struck with force “never seen before” if it does not release all 59 remaining hostages. “Tonight we have resumed fighting in Gaza due to Hamas’ refusal to release the hostages and after its threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities,” Katz said. “We will not stop fighting until all the hostages return home and all the war’s objectives are achieved,” the minister added.

The Israeli army says the attacks on Gaza come after the IDF identified Hamas’ preparations to launch attacks against Israel while reorganizing and rearming itself.

Israel has identified “unusual movements in Gaza” and believes Hamas is preparing a new assault to attack kibbutzim and IDF troops in the Strip. Channel 12 reported this, also citing Katz: “Hamas has suffered a heavy blow, but it has not been defeated. It is preparing to carry out a new raid in Israel, similar to October 7.” “In recent days, we have been informed that Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military power has been restored; the former has 25,000 armed terrorists and the latter over 5,000,” wrote members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

“As Trump has clearly stated, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, and all those trying to terrorize Israel and the United States will pay a price. Hell will break loose. All terrorists in the Middle East should take the president seriously when he says he is not afraid to defend the U.S. and our ally Israel,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

Iran has denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s “belligerent” statements regarding Tehran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen, warning that any act of aggression would have “serious consequences” for which Washington would have to take “full responsibility.”

“I would like to express my deep concern and my unequivocal condemnation of the recent warlike statements by senior officials of the U.S. administration, including President Trump, who are ‘desperately’ trying to justify U.S. attacks in Yemen and ‘openly threatening’ to use force against Iran,” wrote Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter sent to the UN Security Council. Trump stated that he would hold Tehran directly responsible for any future attacks by Houthi rebels, who have targeted U.S. and foreign ships in the Red Sea.

The Yemeni Houthi rebels today claimed responsibility for a third attack on a group of American aircraft carriers within 48 hours, calling it retaliation for U.S. airstrikes.
The Iran-backed Shiite militias stated in a post on Telegram that they targeted the USS Harry S. Truman group with missiles and drones in the northern Red Sea.