Netanyahu Warns Hamas As Israel Strikes Gaza Amid Truce Collapse: 'Negotiations Only Under Fire'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that the extensive overnight airstrikes on Gaza were "only the beginning" and that any future negotiations with Hamas would take place "only under fire."

The strikes, the most intense since a truce came into effect in January, resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people across the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, reported AFP.

Photo Credit: AP/PTI

In a video statement on Tuesday evening, Netanyahu declared, "Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you -- and them -- this is only the beginning."

Talks have reached an impasse over how to advance a ceasefire agreement beyond its initial phase, with Israel and Hamas at odds over the conditions needed to bring the war to an end.

In his address, Netanyahu insisted that "from now on, negotiations will take place only under fire," adding that "military pressure is essential for the release of additional hostages."

Israel has pledged to continue its military campaign until all hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack are returned.

By Tuesday afternoon, eyewitnesses in Gaza reported that the attacks had largely subsided, although sporadic bombing persisted.

"Today I felt that Gaza is a real hell," said Jihan Nahhal, a 43-year-old resident of Gaza City, recounting how some of her relatives were wounded or killed in the strikes.

"Suddenly there were huge explosions, as if it were the first day of the war."

Hamas, which has yet to mount a military response, accused Israel of attempting to force it into surrender.

The White House confirmed that Israel had consulted with US President Donald Trump's administration prior to launching the strikes, while Israeli officials stated that the renewed military action was "fully coordinated" with Washington.

A spokesperson for the US State Department asserted that "Hamas bears total responsibility... for the resumption of hostilities."

In response, Hamas called on allied nations to "pressure" the United States to intervene and halt Israel's offensive.

The United Nations and several governments worldwide condemned the attacks, while relatives of Israeli hostages pleaded with Netanyahu to cease hostilities, fearing for the safety of their loved ones.

'Complete Destruction'

Netanyahu's office stated that Tuesday's military operation had been ordered due to "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages."

Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of "deciding to overturn the ceasefire agreement" that had been brokered by US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators. The group warned that the renewed conflict would "impose a death sentence" on the remaining hostages.

Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP that the airstrikes were intended "to impose a surrender agreement, writing it in the blood of Gaza."

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that "Hamas must understand that the rules of the game have changed," warning that if the group did not immediately release the hostages, Israel would continue its offensive until Hamas faced "complete destruction."

Hamas reported that the head of its administration in Gaza, Essam al-Dalis, was among several officials killed in the strikes.

In the southern Gaza Strip, AFP footage showed wounded civilians, including young children, being rushed to hospitals on stretchers. Bodies wrapped in white shrouds were also seen being taken to the hospital mortuary.

'Shocking'

The Gaza health ministry reported that hospitals had received the bodies of 413 people, noting that "a number of victims are still under the rubble."

UNICEF spokesperson Rosalia Bollen, speaking to AFP from southern Gaza, said that "dozens and dozens of children" were among the dead, with many more injured.

She added that medical facilities, already devastated by the war, were now "overwhelmed."

In Jerusalem, families of Israeli hostages demonstrated outside Netanyahu's office, with campaign groups accusing the government of instigating "the explosion of the ceasefire, which could sacrifice their family members."

Governments in the Middle East, Europe, and beyond called for an end to the renewed violence.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the scenes as "shocking," stating, "The images of burning tents in refugee camps are shocking. Fleeing children and internally displaced persons must never be used as leverage in negotiations."

Iran, a key supporter of Hamas, denounced the Israeli offensive as a "continuation of the genocide" in Palestinian territories, while Russia and China warned against further escalation.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned the strikes, accusing Israel of carrying out "deliberate efforts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and force the Palestinians into displacement."

US President Donald Trump has proposed relocating Palestinians out of Gaza, an idea widely rejected by Palestinian leaders and governments across the region, though some Israeli politicians have supported the plan.

Just hours after the wave of strikes began, Netanyahu's Likud party announced that a far-right political faction, which had quit the government in January in protest against the Gaza truce, would be rejoining the coalition.

Attack from Yemen

The Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on 19 January, had largely halted the war triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

The initial phase of the truce ended in early March after a series of exchanges involving Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

However, the two sides have failed to agree on the next steps. Hamas has insisted on negotiations for a second phase, which it says should lead to a lasting ceasefire, while Israel sought to extend the first phase by restricting aid and electricity supplies to Gaza amid the deadlock.

Hamas's attack in 2023 resulted in 1,218 deaths, primarily civilians, while Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 48,577 people, also mostly civilians, according to official figures from both sides.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the October attack, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli military believes to be dead.

On Tuesday evening, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have conducted a series of attacks in what they claim is solidarity with the Palestinians, launched a missile towards Israel. The Israeli military later confirmed that it had intercepted the projectile.