The Israeli military said it was conducting “extensive strikes on terror targets” in Gaza City as explosions were heard in the early hours of Tuesday (March 18). The military said it conducted strikes on Hamas targets in the Palestinian enclave. An unnamed senior Hamas official told Reuters that Israel was “unilaterally” ending the ceasefire.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said a series of Israeli air strikes killed more than 34 people.
Israel said that the strikes on the Gaza Strip follow “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages”, an Israeli government statement said Tuesday, as ceasefire negotiations have stalled.
The air strikes were ordered after “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 statement said, adding that Israel would now act with “increased military force” against Hamas.