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A senior Hamas official accused Israel of sacrificing hostages by resuming strikes in Gaza, breaking calm since January, and claimed Netanyahu is using the conflict to distract from internal issues.
Palestinians and Hamas militants gathering around Red Cross vehicles on the day of the release of Israeli hostages. (Reuters)
A senior Hamas official has said Israel has decided to “sacrifice” its hostages by re-launching massive strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, shattering a period of relative calm since a January truce.
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them,” Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement, adding that the Israeli premier was using the fighting as a political “lifeboat” to distract from internal crises.
The statement came hours after the Israeli Army said that it was carrying out “extensive strikes” on the Gaza Strip, as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas had stalled.
In a post on Telegram, the Israeli army said it was currently “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip,” adding that further details would follow.
Israel also promised ‘increasing military force’ in Gaza. Early Tuesday morning, Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said it instructed the army to strike Hamas across Gaza.
The statement said it was because of Hamas’ repeated refusals to release its hostages and its rejection of all offers it received from the US 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.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said a series of Israeli air strikes on Tuesday killed at least 100 people, including five children, with over 150 wounded transported to a hospital.
What Hamas Said
A top Hamas official said Israel decided to sacrifice its hostages by re-launching massive military operations in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, shattering a period of relative calm since a January truce.
Benjamin “Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them,” Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement, adding that the Israeli premier was using the fighting as a political “lifeboat” to distract from internal crises.
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