Military impacts: why Israel resumed its military operation in Gaza

Two months after the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into force, on March 18, the IDF resumed its military operation in the Gaza Strip. Israel explained its actions as a violation of the agreements on the part of Hamas, namely— the preparation of terrorist attacks. The Palestinian Movement said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to resume hostilities was tantamount to a death sentence for the remaining hostages. There are 59 of them, including Maxim Kharkin, a native of Donbass. Moscow called on the parties to return to negotiations. What is behind the new round of confrontation and what is the fate of the second stage of the peace deal on Gas — in the Izvestia article.

New Israeli strikes on Gaza

Against the background of the new escalation in the Gaza Strip that occurred on March 18, Israel and Hamas exchanged accusations of violating the terms of the deal they concluded on January 19. Israel was the first to launch attacks on the Palestinian enclave at night.

"The strikes that our Air Force carried out today in the Gaza Strip are aimed at destroying the Hamas infrastructure and eliminating the militants of this organization," Anna Ukolova, an IDF representative, explained to Izvestia. — Hamas militants have repeatedly violated the ceasefire and, according to the information we have, planned terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. The purpose of our strikes on Hamas positions is to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the operation resumed after repeated refusals by Hamas to release the hostages, as well as the rejection of all proposals by the special envoy of the US President, Steve Witkoff, and intermediaries.

The first six-week phase of the deal provided for a cease-fire with the gradual withdrawal of IDF troops from central Gaza, as well as the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. As a result, 33 hostages returned to Israel, including the bodies of eight dead prisoners. In response, 1.8 thousand Palestinian prisoners were released.

On February 15, Russian citizen Alexander Trufanov, who had been held in captivity for 498 days, was also released. It is not yet clear how the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza Strip will affect the process of returning home another of our compatriots, Maxim Kharkin, a native of Donbass. In any case, Moscow reacted with deep regret to the news of Israel's resumption of military operations.

"Experience shows that it is impossible to resolve the issue of hostage release by force. Russia strongly condemns any actions that lead to the death of civilians and the destruction of social infrastructure," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow called on the parties to return to the negotiation process, "aimed at working out a mutually acceptable compromise solution to the problem of detainees, which would ensure a sustainable normalization of the situation in the Gaza Strip and launch a full-scale reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave."

The Israeli operation is still quite limited and does not include a ground component. The country's authorities are talking about launching preemptive strikes against the "resurgent potential" of Hamas, but they are not completely closing the negotiation window, orientalist Leonid Tsukanov said in an interview with Izvestia.

— Probably, in the coming days, the Cairo–Doha negotiation format will still remain in the same form, but if Israel decides to consolidate the initial successes by advancing ground units, the situation with the settlement may roll back for at least six months, and the mediators will have to rebuild contacts between the warring parties, — the expert believes.

As for Russia's role, Moscow is now more focused on developing an approach to the Ukrainian settlement and is trying not to seriously interfere in the Palestinian-Israeli process. Although the Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed its readiness to strengthen mediation efforts.

On March 16, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met in Qatar with the chairman of the Hamas governing Council, Mohammed Ismail Dervish, as well as the deputy chairmen of the movement's politburo, Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu-Marzouk. The parties, in particular, noted the illegality of the decision of the Israeli authorities to stop supplying electricity to the Palestinian enclave. The Russian side emphasized the importance of the early release of all remaining hostages in Gaza, including Maxim Kharkin.

Israel insists on the complete elimination of Hamas

As for the plan of the US President's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, according to Israeli media reports, it consisted of extending the truce for two months, during which Hamas was to hand over half of the surviving hostages first, and the other half if a permanent ceasefire was agreed. However, the Palestinian movement rejected this plan, insisting on the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory of the enclave. Israel did not agree to the last demand.

During the new strikes, Hamas lost five senior officials, the movement confirmed. According to the Gaza Medical Service, civilian casualties have exceeded 400 dead and over 1,000 wounded. The Palestinian Maan news agency, citing sources in Hamas, reported that one Israeli hostage was killed and two wounded during the attack. Israel estimates that 59 people remain in captivity at the moment.

Hamas has already stated that they will not compromise and will continue the war with Israel. Moreover, Izzat ar-Rishk, a member of the political bureau of the movement, stressed that Netanyahu's decision to return to war was tantamount to "sacrificing Israeli prisoners and sentencing them to death.",

Israel has promised to act against Hamas with "increasing military intensity."

— Hamas cannot be part of the future in the Gaza Strip. Period,— Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on March 18.

The breakdown of the deal between Israel and Hamas was fully expected, since already at its first stage, maximum pressure from the mediators was needed to force the parties to meet each other halfway, says political scientist and orientalist Elena Suponina.

— The pressure came not only from the United States, but also from many Arab states, as well as Turkey. But now their energy has dried up, because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, feeling unprecedented pressure inside the country, decided to escalate the situation again. He is unlikely to turn away from this path now, and the Trump administration is clearly not ready to throw all its forces into resolving the Palestinian conflict," she says.

The expert emphasizes that the deal brokered by the United States had more of a media effect and was aimed at showing that Trump was able to put an end to the killing of Palestinians.

"Trump doesn't solve the problem, and that's the danger of the deals he's offering,— Suponina added.

On March 18, the White House itself confirmed that Israel had consulted with the US presidential administration about the strikes in the Gaza Strip.

— As President Trump has made clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not only Israel, but also the United States of America, will pay a price for this. It's going to be hell," said White House press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.

It is noteworthy that the new escalation in the Gaza Strip was preceded by a series of American airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa and at least three other provinces. Washington reported on the deaths of dozens of members of the Ansar Allah movement. The Houthis themselves said that at least 53 people were killed, five of whom were children. In response, the Yemeni movement attacked the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea.

Although the attacks on Yemen are not directly related to the escalation in Gaza, they occurred as part of a preliminary agreement between the United States and Israel that the Americans would put pressure on any enemies of the Jewish state, Elena Suponina believes.

— In this sense, there is an indirect connection between the two events, — the expert noted.

In her opinion, in general, this will have a very bad effect on the entire region, it is possible that the situation in Lebanon and Syria will worsen.