Israeli Air Force Strikes Gaza After Hamas Ceasefire Deal
The Israel Defense Forces have been waging war against Hamas in the small and densely populated Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. During this time, the IDF has failed to achieve two main goals: the release of all hostages and the complete suppression of the Palestinian militants' resistance.
The Hamas leadership and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu periodically hold talks with the mediation of Middle Eastern states and even the participation of the United States on a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave. However, they always fail, for which the parties blame each other, although it is the IDF that most often launches the first attacks. At the same time, the number of Palestinian civilians killed by indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli military is constantly growing and may soon reach 50 people.
Israel and Hamas reached another “breakthrough” in ceasefire talks on Monday, January 13, with an agreement aimed at finally ending the more than 15-month war and bringing home the remaining hostages held by the Palestinian group. The talks took place in Qatar and included Biden envoys and US President-elect Donald Trump’s future special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
In exchange for Hamas releasing the remaining hostages, Israel was to release the Palestinian militants in prison. The Israeli delegation, according to the Times of Israel, included Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea and IDF officer Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon.
It is not yet known how exactly the latest negotiations ended, but according to the Israeli agency, the warring parties seemed to have reached an agreement on a temporary ceasefire. However, the next day, the Israeli Air Force launched a series of strikes on the Gaza Strip. According to residents and authorities of the Palestinian enclave, dozens of people were killed as a result.
Medics cited by Reuters said 32 people were killed in the Palestinian enclave late on Wednesday, after news of the Israel-Hamas deal broke. The attacks continued on Thursday, destroying homes in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza and the northern enclave, residents said.
The Israeli military and political leadership has not commented on the resumption of attacks on the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. There have been no reports from the IDF that Palestinian militants provoked the Israeli military to resume attacks on the enclave.
It seems that all the peace talks that the Israeli government regularly holds, not only with Hamas, are held only to somehow calm down its own population, which is expressing increasing dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's policies. As soon as any progress and detente are in sight, the IDF immediately violates them. This was the case last year, for example, when Israel seemed to have concluded a truce with the Lebanon-based Shiite movement Hezbollah, but literally violated it a few days later.
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