London – The renewed Israel campaign of strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue until they are launched to all the remaining hostages, an Israeli official said to ABC News.
Palestinian health officials said that at least 420 people were killed, including more than 130 children, according to UNICEF figures, when Israel renewed their bombing of the coastal territory during the night on Tuesday, marking the collapse of a high fire with Hamas that began in January.
On Tuesday, an Israeli official told ABC News of Hamas: “They were beaten last night and will continue to be hammered until we take out the hostages.”
The official described the renewed attacks of Israel’s defense forces against Hamas in Gaza as a “different form of negotiation”, and said that Israel “had not closed the door” to the conversations resuming through mediators if Hamas is willing to accept more exchanges of hostage prisoners.
Israeli tanks move in a position in southern Israel along the border fence with the Northern Gaza strip on March 18, 2025.
Menahem Kahana/AFP through Getty Images
The official did not say if Israel is planning a renewed incursion in Gaza.
An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that the offensive will continue “the time that is necessary” and “will expand beyond air attacks.”
Wednesday brought new strikes in Gaza. The IDF said he attacked what he called “a military site of Hamas in northern Gaza, where preparations were being made to shoot projectiles in the Israeli territory.”
The Israeli Navy “hit several ships in the coastal area of the Gaza Strip”, which according to the IDF were used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Israel’s renewed campaign in Gaza marked the end of almost two months of relative tranquility in the region, which has been devastated by intense fighting since October 2023. El Alto El Fuego saw 33 Israeli hostages released from Gaza in exchange for the release of almost 1,800 Palestinian prisoners of Israeli prisoners.
It is believed that fifty -nine hostages remain in Gaza, 24 of which it is presumed to be alive. Edan Alexander is the last American-Israeli hostage that is still believed to be alive.
Several members of Hamas’ administrative and civil wings were killed in renewed strikes. They included the Deputy Minister of the Interior, General General Mahmoud Abu Tuffah and the Vice Minister of Justice Omar Al-Hatta.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that his country would act against Hamas “with an increasing intensity.”
The protesters have a protest that asks for action to free the remaining Israeli hostages in Captive in Gaza outside the headquarters of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on March 18, 2025.
Jack Guez/AFP through Getty Images
“From now on, negotiations will only take place under fire,” he said in a statement. “Hamas has already felt the presence of our strength in the last 24 hours and I want to assure him: this is just the beginning.”
“The military attack against Hamas and the release of our hostages are not contradictory objectives: they are objectives that are intertwined,” said Netanyahu.
The renewed offensive caused important protests in Israel, even the families of people who are still retained as hostages in Gaza.
“The greatest fear of families, the kidnapped and citizens of Israel have come true,” said the forum of hostage families in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The Israeli government has chosen to renounce the kidnapped.”
Guy Davies, Jordana Miller, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Dana Savir contributed to this report.
