The truce in Gaza is over . Hamas accused Israel today of having "decided to bury" the agreement reached in January in the Middle East, after the launch of air strikes on the Strip last night. The raids, as reported on Telegram by the Gaza Health Ministry, have so far caused 404 deaths and 562 injuries, while "several victims are still under the rubble and recovery operations are underway".

For its part, the Israeli army says that the attacks come after the IDF identified Hamas' preparations to launch attacks against Israel , while it is reorganizing and rearming. A preventive action therefore by Netanyahu's men.

"The attacks have targeted mid-ranking military commanders and Hamas leaders, and will continue as long as necessary," an Israeli official told CNN. In response, a senior Hamas official said on Tuesday that Israel "has decided to sacrifice its hostages. " Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision "to resume the war is a decision to sacrifice the prisoners of the occupation and impose a death sentence on them," Izzat al-Rishq said, adding that Netanyahu is using the fighting in the Palestinian enclave as a political "lifeboat" to distract from the Jewish state's internal crises.

But the line of Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz seems well drawn: "We will not stop fighting until all the hostages have returned home and all the war objectives have been achieved," he said. Among these objectives, in addition to the return of all hostages (dead and alive), is the destruction of Hamas as a military or political force in the Gaza Strip.

(Unioneonline/vf)