Ceasefire Over as Israel Strikes Gaza After Hamas Refuses to Free Hostages
Israel ‘will keep pounding Gaza’ unless Hamas negotiates ‘without games’ as terrorists claim death toll now 404. The Israeli military said the strikes would continue for as long as necessary.
March 23, 2025
ISRAEL has said it will keep pounding Gaza with air strikes until Hamas agrees to release more hostages "without playing games".
More than 400 people have reportedly been killed after Israel blitzed the terror terrorists in Gaza - putting the region back on the brink of all-out war.
Israel launched fresh airstrikes against Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday
Images circulating on social media appear to show the blitz on Gaza
Destruction at the Nuseirat Refugee Camp after an Israeli attack. Credit: Getty
Injured Palestinians arrive at the Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, after the strikes. Getty
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the airstrikes - the heaviest since the ceasefire began in January - because of a lack of progress in talks with the terror group.
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Hamas' highest-ranking security official in Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Wafah has also been killed, reports claim.
Children and women are also among at least 404 killed in the attack, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Netanyahu's defense minister said Israel had resumed fighting in the Strip while vowing to press ahead until all remaining Israeli hostages were released from Hamas' grasp.
One Israeli official told CNN that Israel plans to gradually ramp up operations and the renewed offensive in Gaza will only stop if Hamas agrees to release more hostages.
Another official told the Times of Israel that the military now has a concrete plan “to move forward” their military campaign in the strip.
A separate Israeli official tells the Israel Hayom newspaper that Israel’s goal in the renewed air campaign in Gaza is to push Hamas to agree to the original “Witkoff proposal” for hostage talks.
The outline, attributed by Israel to US special envoy Steve Witkoff, would see half the hostages released at the beginning of an extension of the ceasefire, which would extend till after Passover in mid-April. The rest would be released if an agreement is reached on ending the war.
“Without small releases of hostage and without games, the goal is to get everyone out,” the official says.
“Israel waited three weeks for Hamas to begin serious talks on the Witkoff outline,” continues the official. “That didn’t happen.”
"At the moment, we’re left without any choice. Without small releases of hostage and without games, the goal is to get everyone out."
Israel's bombardment - dubbed "Strength and Sword" by the IDF - threatened to wreck the ceasefire in place since January and fully reignite the 17-month-old war.
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned:
"If Hamas does not release all the kidnapped, the gates of hell will open in Gaza and Hamas' murderers and rapists will meet the IDF with forces they have never known before.
"We will not stop fighting until all the kidnapped return home and all the war's goals are achieved."
The terrorists still have around 59 of the 251 hostages they first kidnapped with brute force during the horrors of October 7.
Israel's military said it had struck Hamas targets across Gaza - ending a weeks-long standoff over extending the ceasefire.
President Donald Trump gave Israel the "green light" to resume the offensive against Hamas, an Israeli official told the Wall Street Journal.
Devastating strikes were reported in several locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
The IDF said the blitz would continue for as long as necessary and would extend beyond air strikes.
Evacuation orders warning Palestinians living on the edge of the strip have been issued by Israel's military - including the towns of Beit Hanoun, Khuza’a, and the Abasan suburbs of Khan Younis.
Col. Avichay Adraee shared a map of “dangerous combat zones” that Gazans should flee from on X.
The attacks were far wider in scale than the regular series of drone strikes the Israeli military has said it has conducted against individuals or small groups of suspected militants.
Netanyahu had issued Hamas a stark warning of "consequences you can't imagine" if the remaining hostages weren't freed.
He said earlier this month: "We will not stop until we achieve all our victory objectives: the return of all our hostages, the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing power, and ensuring Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."
And US President Trump delivered Hamas a chilling "last warning" to return all the hostages immediately or face death and destruction.
An Israeli helicopter flies over the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Head of the General Security Service, Ronen Bar, and Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar commanding the strikes. X/@IDFonline
A general view of the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis. Reuters
Residents look at the remains of their homes destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP
It follows weeks of failed efforts to agree an extension to the truce agreed on January 19.
Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of "repeated refusal to release our hostages" and rejecting proposals from President Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," it said in a statement.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted the US administration before it carried out the strikes.
The military said strikes targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership officials as well as infrastructure belonging to the terror group.
Freed British Israeli hostage Emily Damari said she is "crushed and disappointed" by the renewed fighting.
It comes just days after Netanyahu threatened the Hamas terrorists with "consequences you can't imagine" if the Israeli hostages weren't freed.
In 2025, 33 Israeli captives were returned in the first phase of the ceasefire - including eight bodies. Three of the bodies returned to Israel included mum Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel.
Last month saw the family finally laid to rest as they held a touching funeral procession through Israel.
Their heartbroken dad, who was held hostage by Hamas, led thousands of grief-stricken Israelis who lined the streets just days after their bodies were handed over by their captors.
The war started between Israel and Hamas after the terror group killed more than 1,200 people in a brutal surprise attack.
It triggered an Israeli military offensive that has killed more than 48,520 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry used by the UN.
Yarden Bibas has spoken out on the hostage situation after his family, Shiri, Kfir and Ariel were all killed at the hands of their Hamas captors. Credit: Unpixs
The terror group still have around 59 of the 251 hostages they first kidnapped on October 7. Getty
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