Israel has launched extensive airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and southern Syria in what it said were targeted attacks on extremists planning terrorist attacks, reigniting tensions that threatened to engulf the region in a new, bloody conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on March 17 that he had instructed the military to take "strong action" against Iran-backed Hamas, which the United States and the EU consider a terrorist organization, in response to the Islamist group's refusal to release all remaining hostages and its rejection of new ceasefire proposals.
"Israel will henceforth act against Hamas with increasing military force," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
In addition to attacks on Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military said it had also carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon and southern Syria.
Initial reports from Palestinian authorities in Gaza said at least 80 people were killed and dozens injured in the attacks, but said the toll was likely to rise. The information could not be independently verified.
The Israeli military said the attacks in Gaza targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leaders and the group's infrastructure.
It said it was prepared to continue attacks on Hamas for as long as necessary and would expand the campaign beyond air strikes. Israeli tanks and soldiers were heavily involved in Gaza during the previous reprisal operation.
Israel consulted the White House in its latest strikes on Gaza, spokeswoman Caroline Levitt told Fox News.
"As President [Donald] Trump has made clear - Hamas, the Houthis [in Yemen], Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not only Israel but the United States of America, will see the price they pay. All hell will break loose," Levitt said.
On March 5, Trump warned Hamas that "all hell would fall" if it did not immediately release all hostages after the White House confirmed it had held secret talks with the extremist group.
Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official as saying that Israel was "unilaterally ending" the Gaza ceasefire agreement and that the action had put the fate of the remaining Israeli hostages in jeopardy.
The violence comes amid disputes between Israel and Hamas over ways to maintain a three-phase ceasefire that began on January 19, including exchanging the remaining hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Much of Hamas's leadership was killed during Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza following the extremist group's bloody cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
An attack by Hamas-led militants on settlements in southern Israel killed about 1.200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza. About XNUMX remain under Hamas control.
Israel struck back by launching a devastating war in the Palestinian enclave that, according to local authorities, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced most of Gaza's 2,3 million residents.
Following the ceasefire agreement – which led to the release of numerous hostages and prisoners – the Israeli military frequently carried out attacks on Hamas, as well as attacks on Hezbollah locations in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah is also designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU considers its armed wing, but not its political wing, a terrorist group. Much of Hezbollah's leadership was also killed during Israel's 14-month war against the group before a US-brokered ceasefire in November.
In renewed strikes, Israel said it had hit two Hezbollah leaders in the southern Lebanese town of Johmor. It said the men were "observation operatives."
The military announced that other, unspecified strikes were carried out on Hezbollah locations in Lebanon.
In Syria, Israel occupied a buffer zone in the south after the fall of the brutal autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad in December. It described the move as a preemptive measure against the former Islamist rebels who overthrew Assad and now control Syria.
Syrian authorities said on March 17 that Israeli strikes had hit a residential area in the southern city of Daraa, killing three people. The report could not be verified.
The Israelis said they were targeting military command centers and weapons sites in southern Syria that belong to remnants of Assad's forces and pose a threat to Israel.
Assad fled Syria in December and is reported to be in Russia, which along with Iran has been a major supporter of his regime. Assad took power in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
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