On the night of March 18, Israel resumed a military operation against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after two months of truce. Massive strikes against militant targets are being carried out “in accordance with the political situation,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said. The military carried out at least 35 airstrikes following orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to “act decisively” against Hamas over the group’s refusal to return hostages as part of a truce.
Explosions occurred in the cities of Gaza, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, Reuters reported. One of the airstrikes hit a refugee camp in the al-Mawasi neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeeta reported. According to the local Ministry of Health, more than 130 people were killed and more than 300 injured. At the same time, the Gaza government said that the victims of the attack were more than 200 people. The IDF specified that the targets of the strikes were mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the politburo, as well as the movement’s infrastructure. The Israeli army promised to carry out airstrikes “as long as necessary” and also said it was ready to “expand the scale of the operation beyond the air campaign.” The forces to do so are already deployed and ready to engage “on all fronts,” the IDF emphasized.
