JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
ISRAEL BLOWS HAMAS TO BITS OVER NIGHT.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
(NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD
HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY
NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS
SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3
PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD
IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven,
and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I
will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about
thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in
fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their
destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase
the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I
send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED
THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and
they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through
thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have
spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out
from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully
ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the
city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the
horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200
MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold,
the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of
fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination,
and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather
all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS
COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed
like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it;
and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass
in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that
are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,
when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and
before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of
the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD
DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM
NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is
done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
NAHUM 3:13
13
Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are
wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
Hamas:
Israeli offensive 'exposes hostages to unknown fate'Israel resumes Gaza
strikes, says Hamas collapsed truce by refusing to free hostages-IDF
says it targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, is prepared to widen
offensive beyond airstrikes; death toll reportedly over 400; White House
backs attacks, says it was consulted By Jacob Magid,Emanuel Fabian and
Nurit Yohanan Today, 5:53 am
The ceasefire between Israel and
Hamas collapsed early Tuesday morning after roughly two months, as the
Israel Defense Forces launched dozens of strikes throughout Gaza under
orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited the terror
group’s “repeated refusal” to release Israeli hostages.At least 404
Palestinians were killed, including children, according to unverified
figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate
between civilians and combatants. It said another 562 were
wounded.Netanyahu’s office said the decision to resume strikes shortly
after midnight “followed Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our
hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has
received from US special envoy to the Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff and
from the mediators.”Hamas has insisted on sticking to the original terms
of the deal, which was supposed to enter its second phase at the
beginning of the month. That phase envisioned Israel fully withdrawing
from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the
release of the remaining living hostages. While Israel signed on to the
deal, Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until
Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been
destroyed.Accordingly, Israel refused to even hold talks regarding the
terms of phase two, which were supposed to begin on February
3.Nonetheless, the ceasefire remained in place for roughly two and a
half weeks after the conclusion of the first phase, as mediators worked
to broker new terms for the truce’s extension.Accepting Israel’s
aversion to phase two, Witkoff presented a bridge proposal last week
that would have seen phase one extended for several weeks during which
five living hostages would be released. The US envoy said Sunday that
Hamas’s response to the offer was a “nonstarter” and warned of impending
consequences if the terror group did not change its approach.White
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Israel had
consulted with the Trump administration before conducting the
strikes.“As President Trump has made it clear: Hamas, the Houthis, Iran —
all those who seek to terrorize, not just Israel, but the United States
of America — will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” she
said.“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but
instead chose refusal and war,” White House National Security Council
spokesperson Brian Hughes separately told The Times of Israel.US
President Donald Trump was integral in securing the ceasefire, with
Witkoff leaning hard on Netanyahu to accept the hostage deal in January
after months of deadlock under the previous Biden administration. Trump
has campaigned on ending wars worldwide but has quickly grown impatient
with Hamas since entering office, repeatedly threatening the terror
group with destruction if the hostages weren’t released.Hamas issued a
statement early Tuesday saying Netanyahu’s government’s decision to
“overturn the ceasefire agreement” exposes the hostages “to an unknown
fate.”Hamas called on the mediators — the US, Qatar and Egypt — to hold
Netanyahu fully responsible for breaking the ceasefire.The terror group
demanded Arab and Muslim countries to back “Palestinian resistance”
aimed at “breaking the unjust blockade imposed on Gaza.” Hamas also
urged the UN Security Council to urgently convene to issue a resolution
obligating Israel to halt its “aggression.”In its statement announcing
the overnight strikes, Netanyahu’s office said that, moving forward,
Israel will “act against Hamas with increasing military strength,”
adding that the operation is designed to achieve Israel’s war aims — the
dismantlement of the terror group’s military and governing capabilities
and the return of all remaining 59 hostages.Hostages’ families have
long argued that those aims contradict each other and that a return to
fighting will endanger their loved ones’ lives.Hostage Omri Miran’s wife
Lishay tweeted a broken heart emoji shortly after the strikes began.
Former hostage Noa Argamani posted the same thing.Polling over the past
month has indicated that a majority of the Israeli public agrees with
the families and backs ending the war in exchange for the release of the
hostages.But those polls have also shown that a plurality of coalition
voters back resuming the war. Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners
have also threatened to collapse the government if he ends the war
before Hamas has been dismantled.Israel wasn’t able to do this during
the first 15-plus months of war but is emboldened by the new
administration in Washington, which is less likely to criticize
Jerusalem over potential civilian deaths or the lack of humanitarian aid
in Gaza, which the IDF has blocked entirely since the end of the first
phase of the ceasefire.The IDF also has a new chief of staff, Lt. Gen.
Eyal Zamir, who entered the post earlier this month pledging an
unrelenting effort to dismantle Hamas.Separately, Netanyahu announced on
Monday that he plans to fire Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, one of
several security chiefs who regularly sparred with the premier over his
handling of the war. The security establishment has argued that Israel
should agree to the original terms of the ceasefire in order to secure
the release of the remaining hostages before it is too late, insisting
that Hamas can be dealt with at a later date.The cabinet was initially
slated to hold a vote on Bar’s dismissal on Tuesday, but that meeting
had not been finalized as of Monday night and the resumption of fighting
could delay that process further.Bar’s agency joined the IDF in
planning the extensive wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, which
the army said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the terror
group’s politburo, and its infrastructure. The operation was dubbed by
the military “Strength and Sword.”Footage from Gaza shows dozens of
children, women, and elderly people among the casualties. But the death
toll also included several top Hamas members, according to the terror
group’s information ministry in Gaza.The dead included: Issam Da’alis, a
member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza and head of the governmental
activity monitoring committee, a position roughly akin to prime
minister; Ahmad al-Khatta, the director-general of Hamas’s justice
ministry; Mahmoud Abu Watfa, who headed the terror group’s interior
ministry, responsible for Hamas’s police and internal security services
in Gaza; and Bahjat Abu Sultan, head of Hamas’s internal security
forces, which is under the interior ministry.Abu Ubaida Al-Jamassi, also
a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza and, according to some
sources, the head of Hamas’s emergency committee — which has managed
Gaza during the war — was also killed overnight, according to
unconfirmed media reports in Gaza.An Israeli military official briefing
reporters said that the IDF conducted dozens of strikes using dozens of
aircraft after Netanyahu signed off on the operation earlier Monday.The
strikes came after the IDF identified Hamas’s preparations to launch
attacks on Israel along with its efforts to regroup and rearm, the
Israeli military official said.The official said the military intends to
continue the airstrikes “as long as necessary,” and widen the surprise
assault beyond an aerial campaign if it is ordered to.The IDF is
deployed and prepared on all fronts, including with heightened alert
with its air defenses, the official added.The plans for Tuesday’s
operation had been kept secret until now for the IDF to have the element
of surprise, the military official said.Several hours after the start
of the bombing campaign, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to
Palestinians residing on the edges of the Gaza Strip, possibly
indicating an intention to expand the offensive.In a post on X, the
IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of
“dangerous combat zones” that Gazans should flee from. They included
the towns of Beit Hanoun and Khuza’a, and the Abasan suburbs of Khan
Younis.“The IDF has launched a strong offensive against terror
organizations. These designated areas are considered dangerous combat
zones,” he said. “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to
known shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis.”He warned that
remaining in the areas marked on the map in red “puts your lives and the
lives of your family members in danger.”The European Union and
Palestinian officials who have been operating the Rafah Crossing along
with the private security contractors who have been conducting
inspections of Gazans passing through the Netzarim Corridor were not in
the Strip when Israel began its airstrikes, a European diplomat told The
Times of Israel.They had been entering Gaza each day from Egypt in the
morning and then departing the Strip at night, the diplomat said.Israel
informed them Tuesday morning that it was shuttering the Rafah Crossing
as it intensifies its operations against Hamas, and that they therefore
would not be allowed back into the Strip for the time being, the
diplomat said.Meanwhile, in Israel, following an assessment, the IDF’s
Home Front Command decided to cancel school in Gaza border communities
on Tuesday in addition to halting the train line to the southern city of
Sderot. Gatherings were also restricted to 10 people indoors and 100
people outdoors in the Gaza border area.Zamir, the chief of staff,
managed the operation with the Shin Bet’s Bar from the IDF’s Kirya
headquarters in Tel Aviv. Images released by the military showed Zamir,
Bar, and Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar at the IAF’s
underground command center at the IDF headquarters.Much of Gaza now lies
in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on October 7, 2023,
when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities around
the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages
into Gaza.The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000
people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much
of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave, including the hospital
system. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as
of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October
7.Agencies contributed to this report.
Hamas: Israeli offensive
'exposes hostages to unknown fate' Israel resumes Gaza strikes, says
Hamas collapsed truce by refusing to free hostages-IDF says it targeted
mid-level Hamas commanders, is prepared to widen offensive beyond
airstrikes; death toll reportedly over 400; White House backs attacks,
says it was consulted-By Jacob Magid,Emanuel Fabian and Nurit Yohanan
Today, 5:53 am-MAR 18,25
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
collapsed early Tuesday morning after roughly two months, as the Israel
Defense Forces launched dozens of strikes throughout Gaza under orders
from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited the terror group’s
“repeated refusal” to release Israeli hostages.At least 404 Palestinians
were killed, including children, according to unverified figures from
the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between
civilians and combatants. It said another 562 were wounded.Netanyahu’s
office said the decision to resume strikes shortly after midnight
“followed Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as
its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US special
envoy to the Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”Hamas
has insisted on sticking to the original terms of the deal, which was
supposed to enter its second phase at the beginning of the month. That
phase envisioned Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to
permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining
living hostages. While Israel signed on to the deal, Netanyahu has long
insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’s governing and
military capabilities have been destroyed.Accordingly, Israel refused to
even hold talks regarding the terms of phase two, which were supposed
to begin on February 3.Nonetheless, the ceasefire remained in place for
roughly two and a half weeks after the conclusion of the first phase, as
mediators worked to broker new terms for the truce’s
extension.Accepting Israel’s aversion to phase two, Witkoff presented a
bridge proposal last week that would have seen phase one extended for
several weeks during which five living hostages would be released. The
US envoy said Sunday that Hamas’s response to the offer was a
“nonstarter” and warned of impending consequences if the terror group
did not change its approach.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
told Fox News that Israel had consulted with the Trump administration
before conducting the strikes.“As President Trump has made it clear:
Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize, not just
Israel, but the United States of America — will see a price to pay. All
hell will break loose,” she said.“Hamas could have released hostages to
extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House
National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes separately told The
Times of Israel.US President Donald Trump was integral in securing the
ceasefire, with Witkoff leaning hard on Netanyahu to accept the hostage
deal in January after months of deadlock under the previous Biden
administration. Trump has campaigned on ending wars worldwide but has
quickly grown impatient with Hamas since entering office, repeatedly
threatening the terror group with destruction if the hostages weren’t
released.Hamas issued a statement early Tuesday saying Netanyahu’s
government’s decision to “overturn the ceasefire agreement” exposes the
hostages “to an unknown fate.”A person allegedly killed during an
Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern
Gaza.Hamas called on the mediators — the US, Qatar and Egypt — to hold
Netanyahu fully responsible for breaking the ceasefire.The terror group
demanded Arab and Muslim countries to back “Palestinian resistance”
aimed at “breaking the unjust blockade imposed on Gaza.” Hamas also
urged the UN Security Council to urgently convene to issue a resolution
obligating Israel to halt its “aggression.”In its statement announcing
the overnight strikes, Netanyahu’s office said that, moving forward,
Israel will “act against Hamas with increasing military strength,”
adding that the operation is designed to achieve Israel’s war aims — the
dismantlement of the terror group’s military and governing capabilities
and the return of all remaining 59 hostages.Hostages’ families have
long argued that those aims contradict each other and that a return to
fighting will endanger their loved ones’ lives.Hostage Omri Miran’s wife
Lishay tweeted a broken heart emoji shortly after the strikes began.
Former hostage Noa Argamani posted the same thing.Polling over the past
month has indicated that a majority of the Israeli public agrees with
the families and backs ending the war in exchange for the release of the
hostages.But those polls have also shown that a plurality of coalition
voters back resuming the war. Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners
have also threatened to collapse the government if he ends the war
before Hamas has been dismantled.Israel wasn’t able to do this during
the first 15-plus months of war but is emboldened by the new
administration in Washington, which is less likely to criticize
Jerusalem over potential civilian deaths or the lack of humanitarian aid
in Gaza, which the IDF has blocked entirely since the end of the first
phase of the ceasefire.The IDF also has a new chief of staff, Lt. Gen.
Eyal Zamir, who entered the post earlier this month pledging an
unrelenting effort to dismantle Hamas.Separately, Netanyahu announced on
Monday that he plans to fire Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, one of
several security chiefs who regularly sparred with the premier over his
handling of the war. The security establishment has argued that Israel
should agree to the original terms of the ceasefire in order to secure
the release of the remaining hostages before it is too late, insisting
that Hamas can be dealt with at a later date.The cabinet was initially
slated to hold a vote on Bar’s dismissal on Tuesday, but that meeting
had not been finalized as of Monday night and the resumption of fighting
could delay that process further.Bar’s agency joined the IDF in
planning the extensive wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, which
the army said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the terror
group’s politburo, and its infrastructure. The operation was dubbed by
the military “Strength and Sword.”Footage from Gaza shows dozens of
children, women, and elderly people among the casualties. But the death
toll also included several top Hamas members, according to the terror
group’s information ministry in Gaza.The dead included: Issam Da’alis, a
member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza and head of the governmental
activity monitoring committee, a position roughly akin to prime
minister; Ahmad al-Khatta, the director-general of Hamas’s justice
ministry; Mahmoud Abu Watfa, who headed the terror group’s interior
ministry, responsible for Hamas’s police and internal security services
in Gaza; and Bahjat Abu Sultan, head of Hamas’s internal security
forces, which is under the interior ministry.Abu Ubaida Al-Jamassi, also
a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza and, according to some
sources, the head of Hamas’s emergency committee — which has managed
Gaza during the war — was also killed overnight, according to
unconfirmed media reports in Gaza.An Israeli military official briefing
reporters said that the IDF conducted dozens of strikes using dozens of
aircraft after Netanyahu signed off on the operation earlier Monday.The
strikes came after the IDF identified Hamas’s preparations to launch
attacks on Israel along with its efforts to regroup and rearm, the
Israeli military official said.The official said the military intends to
continue the airstrikes “as long as necessary,” and widen the surprise
assault beyond an aerial campaign if it is ordered to.The IDF is
deployed and prepared on all fronts, including with heightened alert
with its air defenses, the official added.The plans for Tuesday’s
operation had been kept secret until now for the IDF to have the element
of surprise, the military official said.Several hours after the start
of the bombing campaign, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to
Palestinians residing on the edges of the Gaza Strip, possibly
indicating an intention to expand the offensive.In a post on X, the
IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of
“dangerous combat zones” that Gazans should flee from. They included
the towns of Beit Hanoun and Khuza’a, and the Abasan suburbs of Khan
Younis.“The IDF has launched a strong offensive against terror
organizations. These designated areas are considered dangerous combat
zones,” he said. “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to
known shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis.”He warned that
remaining in the areas marked on the map in red “puts your lives and the
lives of your family members in danger.”The European Union and
Palestinian officials who have been operating the Rafah Crossing along
with the private security contractors who have been conducting
inspections of Gazans passing through the Netzarim Corridor were not in
the Strip when Israel began its airstrikes, a European diplomat told The
Times of Israel.They had been entering Gaza each day from Egypt in the
morning and then departing the Strip at night, the diplomat said.Israel
informed them Tuesday morning that it was shuttering the Rafah Crossing
as it intensifies its operations against Hamas, and that they therefore
would not be allowed back into the Strip for the time being, the
diplomat said.Meanwhile, in Israel, following an assessment, the IDF’s
Home Front Command decided to cancel school in Gaza border communities
on Tuesday in addition to halting the train line to the southern city of
Sderot. Gatherings were also restricted to 10 people indoors and 100
people outdoors in the Gaza border area.Zamir, the chief of staff,
managed the operation with the Shin Bet’s Bar from the IDF’s Kirya
headquarters in Tel Aviv. Images released by the military showed Zamir,
Bar, and Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar at the IAF’s
underground command center at the IDF headquarters.Much of Gaza now lies
in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on October 7, 2023,
when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities around
the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages
into Gaza.The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000
people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much
of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave, including the hospital
system. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as
of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October
7.Agencies contributed to this report.
Captured Gaza records show
that Iran, Hezbollah plotted with Hamas to destroy Israel--New study,
based on classified documents, reveals terror group’s shift from defense
to a multifront assault plan, culminating in devastating October 7,
2023, invasion-By Stav Levaton Today, 11:40 am-MAR 18,25
In the
years leading up to its invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas
developed a concrete plan to destroy the Jewish state, in full
coordination with Hezbollah and Iran, according to classified documents
published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information
Center.The Hamas documents reveal that in the lead-up to October 7, Iran
was a critical player in funding Hamas’s plan to destroy Israel, that
the Gaza-based terror group pushed for a coordinated attack from
multiple fronts, and that its leader Yahya Sinwar believed that his
military force could push Israel toward collapse.Hamas’s devastating
large-scale attack, which caught the nation off guard, involved
coordinated land, sea, and air assaults, marking a significant
escalation in its long-standing goal to destroy Israel. Despite years of
military buildup in Gaza and strategic shifts, Israeli intelligence had
not anticipated the scale or suddenness of the attack, leaving security
forces badly unprepared.Before 2019, Hamas’s military operations were
primarily framed in defensive terms, focusing on strengthening its
infrastructure in Gaza to withstand future conflicts, as outlined in a
Hamas document titled “The Movement’s Strategy 2013-2017.”The document
also discussed a “realistic plan” of “implementing popular resistance in
Palestine,” by initiating an intifada in the West Bank or “mobilizing…
forces… to carry out jihad,” as well as “pursuing Jews and military
personnel in international forums.”However, a significant shift in
dialogue emerged in 2019, with a revolution in Hamas’s thinking taking
place in 2021, the internal documents recovered from Gaza show.In 2019,
the terror group began to emphasize coordination with Iran’s Quds Force
and Hezbollah under a “joint defense agreement,” according to a document
authored by the office of then-Hamas political bureau chief Sinwar. It
laid out plans for a multifront war against Israel, with the ultimate
goal of “liberating al-Quds [Jerusalem].”Three attacks
scenarios-Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021 was the pivotal moment
in Hamas’s strategic evolution, according to former IDF Intelligence
Research Division chief Itai Brun.The operation was an Israeli military
campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas’s military infrastructure in Gaza,
following escalating violence and rocket attacks from the Strip.The
month after the operation, Sinwar, then-Hamas military leader Mohammed
Deif, and Deif’s deputy, Marwan Issa, sent a letter to Esmail Qaani, the
commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Guard
Corps, requesting $500 million over two years to fund its war effort:
“We are confident that by the end of these two years or during them, if
Allah wills, we will uproot [Israel], and together we will change the
face of the region.”Deif and Issa were killed in Gaza in separate IDF
airstrikes last year. Sinwar was killed by an IDF tank shell in Rafah
last October.The documents reveal that Hamas was fully committed to this
proposal by 2022, with Sinwar presenting a concrete plan for a
multifront confrontation with Israel in a letter to then-political
leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last July,
describing three possible scenarios.The first, described by Hamas as the
“preferred scenario,” detailed a large-scale military campaign against
Israel involving all “Axis of Resistance” actors, excluding Iran.This
scenario was described as a “sudden confrontation from all fronts” with
the timing “linked to one of the Jewish holidays,” specifically
referring to Passover. It also mentioned “reasonable participation from
Yemen, Iraq, and Syria” and “guerrilla operations beyond the Jordanian
borders,” alongside Hezbollah’s full force.The second scenario — or the
“intermediate scenario”— designated Hamas as the central actor in the
attack. Hezbollah would only use “a quarter or a third of its power,
keeping the remaining forces for deterrence and the strategic campaign,”
while other “axis forces engage from the other fronts.”The third and
final scenario, described as a “scenario of necessity,” placed the
preponderance of the fight on Hamas’s shoulders, with Hezbollah merely
playing an indirect role by allowing the “activation of [Hamas] forces
with increasing efficiency from Lebanon.”The 2022 letter also discussed
the possible establishment of a Hamas combat unit in Lebanon, with a
minimum of 250 fighters, that could use Hezbollah’s operational networks
to conduct raids into Israeli territory.In Haniyeh’s response to
Sinwar, he revealed that Iran and Hezbollah ultimately endorsed the
first scenario, envisioning a coordinated, multifront assault on Israel:
“[The first scenario] was approved in the discussion we held with our
allies; we are awaiting its final review in additional meetings,
particularly with the Iranians, and we will follow up on the necessary
preparations for it as outlined above.”In the months before October 7,
Hamas leaders continued to discuss an attack. In April 2023, Sinwar told
Hamas political bureau member Muhammad Nasser that Operation Guardian
of the Walls had been a “walk in the park” for Israel in comparison to
potential campaigns in the future, and that the next attack would be “so
powerful that it will shatter the enemy into fragments.”Openly
discussing the ‘liberation’The documents align with public statements
made by Hamas and its allies in the years leading up to the October 7
onslaught.In a September 2021 conference held in Gaza titled “Promise of
the Hereafter – Post-Liberation Palestine,” Palestinian factions openly
discussed governing the entirety of Israel’s territory, “from the river
to the sea.”The concluding statement from the conference outlined the
steps needed to launch the new Palestinian state, including how to deal
with the Jews and the weeding out of informants to “purge Palestine and
the Arab and Islamic homeland of the hypocrite scum that spread
corruption in the land.”Similarly, in a May 2023 speech marking the
anniversary of the IDF’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon,
then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared, “Today, hope is greater
than ever for the liberation of Palestine from the sea to the river,
for prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque.”He further claimed that “[Israel’s] home
front is weak, fragile, anxious, always ready to pack up and
leave.”[Israel’s] home front is weak, fragile, anxious, always ready to
pack up and leave.Nasrallah was eliminated in an IDF airstrike on
Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut last September.The Meir Amit
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center suggested that Israeli
intelligence may have dismissed such statements as mere bravado rather
than credible threats.The study concluded that while Hamas and its
allies suffered severe setbacks in the current war that began on October
7, their ambition to destroy Israel has not disappeared.“In the long
run, if Hamas recovers, it is not improbable that the movement could
once again regard destroying Israel as a practical plan,” the study
warned.The assessment came at the tail end of a ceasefire that paused
fighting in Gaza for some two months.The ceasefire ended early Tuesday
morning, as the IDF launched a wave of airstrikes across Gaza under the
orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused Hamas of
repeatedly refusing to release Israeli hostages and vowed a forceful
response.The fighting resumed amid reports of the rehabilitation of
Hamas in Gaza, with National Unity Party MK Gadi Eisenkot, alongside
fellow opposition members who sit on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee, saying they had been informed that “Hamas has over
25,000 and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has over 5,000 armed
terrorists.”
Houthis claim attack on American warships; US scoffs
they missed by ‘over 100 miles’US defense official blasts ongoing ‘lies
and disinformation’ by Iran-backed rebel group, which threatens
‘escalation’ over resumed fighting in Gaza-By Agencies and ToI Staff
Today, 10:26 am-MAR 18,25
Yemen’s Houthis on Tuesday claimed
their third attack on American warships in 48 hours, despite US strikes
on the Iran-backed rebels that have sparked mass protests.The Houthis
said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group
with missiles and drones, making the attack the “third in the past 48
hours” in the northern Red Sea.A US defense official said the Houthis
“continue to communicate lies and disinformation,” adding the
Iran-backed group is “well known for false claims minimizing the results
of our attacks while exaggerating the successes of theirs.”US Air Force
Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich earlier told reporters it was
“hard to confirm” the attacks claimed by the Houthis as the rebels were
missing their targets “by over 100 miles” (160 kilometers).Houthi media
said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday after tens of thousands
demonstrated, many waving assault rifles, daggers, or Qurans, chanting
“Death to America, death to Israel!” in the capital Sanaa.There were
also large crowds in Saada, the birthplace of the Houthi movement, and
demonstrations in Dhamar, Hodeida, and Amran, footage from the rebels’
Al-Masirah TV station showed.“Yemen will never back down — we defy the
Americans, we defy the Zionists,” said a man shouting slogans to the
Sanaa crowd, who chanted back: “We are the men of the Prophet.”The
protests came after Washington launched a fresh campaign of airstrikes
on Yemen beginning Saturday, aiming to pressure the Houthis into ending
their attacks on Red Sea shipping.The Houthis have targeted ships
traveling the major trade route since the start of the Gaza war,
claiming solidarity with Palestinians.The US strikes killed 53 people
and wounded 98 on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run health
ministry.The rebels’ Al-Masirah channel and Saba press agency reported
new US strikes on Monday night in the Hodeida and Al-Salif regions,
while the Houthi Ansarollah website said strikes hit Sanaa early
Tuesday.Washington has vowed to keep hitting Yemen until the Houthis
stop attacking shipping, with US President Donald Trump warning he will
hold Iran accountable for any further attacks carried out by the
Tehran-sponsored group.“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked
upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons
and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible,” Trump posted
on social media.Iran responded by calling his statement
“belligerent.”‘Overwhelming’ force-At the rally in Yemen’s capital
Sanaa, giant flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen
Square, which has hosted large-scale demonstrations every week
throughout the Gaza war.Just two days earlier, the Houthi-controlled
capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts
frequented by the rebels’ leadership.They were the first US strikes
since Trump returned to office in January and came despite a pause in
the Houthis’ attacks coinciding with a ceasefire in the Gaza war, which
began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas
invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.US
National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s
strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out.” The
Houthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.The Pentagon said on Monday
it had struck 30 targets in its ongoing campaign in Yemen and vowed to
use “overwhelming lethal force” to “restore freedom of navigation” in
the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.‘Hell will rain down’The United Nations
urged both sides to “cease all military activity,” while expressing
concern over Houthi threats to resume their Red Sea attacks.Before this
weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Houthis had not claimed
any attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the
ceasefire in Gaza began.However, the group had threatened to resume its
campaign over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian
territory.It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if
the “American aggression” continued.Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza
when the complex, three-phase ceasefire stalled after its first stage.
The deal, mediated by the US, Egypt, and Qatar, saw dozens of hostages
released during its initial six-week start but then failed to move onto
the next stage.Then ceasefire finally fell apart on Tuesday when Israel
resumed airstrikes on Gaza, blaming Hamas for refusing any offer to
continue the process of releasing hostages in return for a truce.The
Houthi rebels condemned Israel’s resumption of strikes on Gaza, vowing
escalation in support of Palestinians.“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s
resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the Houthis’ supreme
political council said in a statement, adding: “The Palestinian people
will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its
support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps.”During the
war, the Houthis also directly targeted Israel with ballistic missiles
and drones, killing one person and causing significant damage in several
locations. Those attacks also stopped when the ceasefire began.Iran’s
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the US strikes and said
Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.Iran
also complained to the United Nations Security Council that Trump and
other US officials have made “reckless and provocative statements” that
leveled “baseless accusations” and threatened the use of force against
Tehran.“Iran strongly and categorically rejects any accusation on the
violation of relevant Security Council resolutions on arms embargoes in
Yemen or involvement in any destabilizing activities in the region,”
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in the letter, seen by
Reuters.Meanwhile, Iran’s air force said that a US spy drone retreated
from near Iranian airspace after encountering Iranian F-14 fighter jets
and reconnaissance drones, the country’s Nournews reported Monday.
IDF
strikes terror targets in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, said to kill at
least 9-Military says it hit Hezbollah surveillance operatives, terror
group’s sites in Lebanon; weapons in Syria; Palestinian suspects trying
to plant bomb near troops in Strip-By Emanuel Fabian,Agencies and ToI
Staff 17 March 2025, 11:50 pm
The Israeli military conducted
airstrikes in Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip on Monday, which it
said targeted several terror operatives and military sites that “posed a
threat to the State of Israel.”According to local media and medics, the
strikes killed at least nine people and wounded several others.In
Lebanon, a strike in the afternoon targeted two Hezbollah operatives,
whom the Israel Defense Forces said were carrying out surveillance
operations on Israel and were directing “terror activity” in the area of
the southern town of Yohmor.The state-run National News Agency said
that the drone strike in Yohmor had targeted a motorcycle with two
riders, but a passing van was also hit by shrapnel, and “fires erupted
in it” and a nearby shop.Lebanon’s health ministry said both men were
killed in the strike, and at least two passersby were wounded.Following
the strike, Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “Our policy is clear:
Zero tolerance toward any violation [of the ceasefire]. We will not
allow any violation of the agreement and we will not allow the Hezbollah
terror organization to restore its capabilities. Any terrorist who
tries to harm Israeli civilians is a dead man.”Later in the day, the IDF
carried out a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon’s northeastern Beqaa Valley
region — a Hezbollah stronghold — as well as in the country’s south.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the evening strikes in
Lebanon.The IDF said it targeted sites where it had identified Hezbollah
operatives and weapons, adding that “the terror activity at these sites
poses a threat to the State of Israel and is a blatant violation of the
understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”Later on Monday, the IDF
said it was carrying out airstrikes on military targets in southern
Syria, targeting including headquarters and other facilities used to
store weapons and equipment belonging to the former Syrian regime. The
military said it identified attempts by unspecified groups to use those
weapons.Israel sees the Syrian branches of Palestinian terror groups
Hamas and Islamic Jihad as a major threat, in particular following the
fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime late last year.“The presence of these
[weapons] in southern Syria is a threat to the State of Israel. The IDF
will not allow the existence of a military threat in southern Syria and
will act against it,” the IDF said.Syrian state news agency SANA
reported that “two civilians died and 19 others were injured in Israeli
airstrikes on the outskirts of Daraa city.”Also on Monday, the IDF
carried out several strikes in the southern and central Gaza Strip.Two
separate drone strikes were conducted in the Bureij area of central
Gaza, with the IDF saying it had targeted two groups of terror
operatives trying to plant bombs in the ground, near troops.According to
Palestinian media reports, five were killed in the strikes.Separately,
the IDF said it carried out another strike against a group of terror
operatives who were trying to plant a bomb in the ground near troops in
southern Gaza’s Rafah, which local media said left several wounded.The
strikes in Lebanon and Gaza came during ceasefires on both war fronts,
but Israel has said it will continue to act against terror operatives
who are in breach of the truces and who pose threats to its forces.A
November 27, 2024, truce in Lebanon largely halted more than a year of
hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The fighting came after the
terror group attacked Israel on October 8, 2023, in support of ally
Hamas, which invaded from Gaza a day earlier. The persistent rocket fire
from Lebanon displaced some 60,000 Israeli civilians.Last month, Israel
withdrew all its forces from southern Lebanon, except from five
strategic points, saying it had received a green light from the US to
remain at those posts and citing the need to prevent Hezbollah from
returning to the area and threatening Israel.In Gaza, Israel and Hamas
agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal that began on January 19,
which has seen 33 Israelis returned. Talks are underway to potentially
extend the first phase or move to the second stage of the agreement,
although Israel has said there could be a return to fighting.In Syria,
the IDF has said it will continue to act against all threats as the
country’s new regime grapples with consolidating power in the wake of
the collapse of the decades-long rule of the Assad family.In the months
since his coalition ousted longtime Assad, interim President Ahmed
al-Sharaa and his government have made strides in reforming the
government, including passing a temporary constitution earlier this
month.While the collapse of the Assad regime brought an end to the
country’s more than decade-long civil war, a renewed wave of sectarian
violence sparked fears that the new government would not be able to
effectively keep the peace in Syria.Israeli leaders have consistently
stated that they do not trust Sharaa, whom Katz has called an “extreme
Islamic leader.”Sharaa has dismissed Israel’s threats and Katz’s
comments as “nonsense.”
Trump said to ‘green-light’ renewal of
Gaza strikes, as world laments truce collapse-Israel reportedly let
White House know ahead of resumption of war; Russia warns against
‘spiral of escalation’; Turkey accuses Israel of conducting ‘new phase’
in genocide-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:29 pm-MAR 18,25
US
President Donald Trump gave Israel a “green light” to renew military
operations against Hamas in Gaza, US media reported Tuesday, as the
international community lamented the collapse of the hostage-ceasefire
deal.Trump made the decision after Hamas refused to release more
hostages, an Israeli official was quoted as telling The Wall Street
Journal.Israel let the US know that it was resuming strikes on Gaza
before carrying them out, the official added, echoing other reports that
said the same.At least 413 Palestinians were killed in the overnight
strikes, including children, according to unverified figures from the
Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians
and combatants. It said another 660 were wounded.Israel cited Hamas’s
“repeated refusal” to release Israeli hostages as its reason for
resuming strikes. The terror group has insisted on sticking to the
original terms of the January 19 deal, which was supposed to enter its
second phase at the beginning of this month.That phase envisioned Israel
fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in
exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages. Though Israel
signed on to the deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to
negotiate its second phase, insisting that the war will not end until
Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been
destroyed.Nonetheless, the ceasefire remained in place for roughly two
and a half weeks after the conclusion of the first phase, as mediators
worked to broker new terms for its extension.While the White House
expressed support for the renewed military operation, the rest of the
international community either condemned Israel or lamented the return
to fighting.Russia warned about a “spiral of escalation” in Gaza after
the overnight airstrikes.“The aggravation of the situation, another
spiral of escalation, this is creating concern for us,” Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.China’s Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Mao Ning said her country “is highly concerned about the
current situation between Israel and Palestine,” calling on the parties
to “avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation,
and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster.”Turkey said Israel’s
strikes in Gaza amount to a “new phase in its policy of genocide”
against Palestinians, and urged the international community to take a
determined stance to ensure a ceasefire is upheld and humanitarian aid
is delivered.In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry declared it
was unacceptable for Israel to cause a “new cycle of violence” in the
region, adding the government’s “hostile approach” threatens the future
of the Middle East.The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also condemned Israel,
calling the airstrikes a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire.The
strikes constituted a “dangerous escalation which threatens to bring
serious consequences for the stability of the region,” said the
statement from Egypt, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside Qatar
and the US.“There’s already been enormous suffering there, which is why
we’re calling upon all parties to respect the ceasefire and hostage deal
that was put in place,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told
reporters.“Australia will continue to stand up for peace and security
in the region,” he added.Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels vowed to
escalate their own operations in support of their ally Hamas after
threatening to renew attacks on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, which
halted at the beginning of the ceasefire.“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s
resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the Houthis’ supreme
political council said in a statement.“The Palestinian people will not
be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and
assistance, and escalate confrontation steps,” it added.During the war,
the Houthis directly targeted Israel with ballistic missiles and drones,
killing one person and causing significant damage in several locations.
Those attacks also stopped when the ceasefire began.United Nations
Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “shocked” by the renewal
of airstrikes. In a statement, he called for humanitarian aid to resume
for people in Gaza and for the hostages held by Hamas to be released
unconditionally.The United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for the
West Bank and Gaza urged that the ceasefire in Gaza be immediately
reinstated.“Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the
early hours of the morning… This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be
reinstated immediately,” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement.Much of Gaza
now lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on October
7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli
communities near the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and abducting
251 hostages into Gaza.The Israeli campaign in response has killed more
than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and
destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave,
including the hospital system. Israel says it has killed some 20,000
combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside
Israel on October 7.
