March 19, 2025 (EIRNS)—Israeli officials, both on the record and unnamed, are claiming that the motivation behind Israel’s resumed bombing campaign against Gaza is to coerce Hamas into signing on to a new ceasefire deal which the Israelis say was proposed by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, a deal which would call for Hamas to release half the remaining hostages in their custody at the beginning of the period and the rest of them at the end of the period about a month later, but without any guarantees of releases of more Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons or for an end to the war.
Two unnamed Israeli officials went so far as to tell The Washington Post, in what sounds like the worst kind of cabinet warfare, that the Tuesday strikes were “largely a negotiation tactic to force Hamas to soften its demands after weeks of stalled talks...”
In remarks to visiting members of AIPAC’s board of directors, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar claimed the decision to resume attacks in Gaza was made “several days ago,” adding that the strikes would continue beyond Tuesday. Witkoff “made two different proposals and Hamas rejected both of them,” Sa’ar said. “We found ourselves at a dead end, with no hostages released and no military action. This is a situation that cannot continue.”
But there was an alternative, as Hamas has repeatedly pointed out: that is, the three-phase ceasefire agreement already in place and signed by both sides, that went into effect on Jan. 19. Hamas has repeatedly stressed its commitment to that agreement, but the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu never had any intention of abiding by it beyond phase 1. This was signified already in January by the deal that Netanyahu made with Finance Minister and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich. To keep Smotrich in the government and maintain his majority control, Netanyahu promised Smotrich that he would restart the war after phase 1 of the cease fire agreement expired on March 1 – and phase 2 be damned.
When Hamas said “no” to the supposed Witkoff proposal, the Israelis simply did what they were planning to do anyway. “The objectives of the occupation’s massacres in Gaza are to destroy the ceasefire agreement and attempt to impose a surrender deal written with the blood of Gaza,” said Hamas leader Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, in a statement. “Netanyahu’s goals will not succeed, and he must realize that his aggression is a death sentence for the zionist prisoners.”
