Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli Army to launch “immediate powerful strikes” in the Gaza Strip after accusing Hamas of violating ceasefire repeatedly.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office posted on X, “Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip.”
The development took place after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were targeted in the Southern Gaza region, officials said.
Netanyahu convened the security cabinet following what Israeli officials describe as fresh violations by Hamas of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The meeting comes after new remains handed over overnight appeared to belong to a hostage whose body had already been returned.
“The fact that Hamas continues to play games and does not immediately transfer all the bodies of our fallen is, in itself, evidence that the terror organization is still standing,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.
He added, “Now we don’t need to ‘extract a price from Hamas’ for the violations. We need to exact from it its very existence and destroy it completely, once and for all — in accordance with the central goal defined for the War of Revival. Mr. Prime Minister, enough hesitation. Give the order!”
