In the early hours of Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults once again devastated the Gaza Strip, leaving over 320 Palestinians dead and hundreds more wounded or missing in just five hours. The renewed aggression, fully backed by the United States, has shattered hopes for peace and exposed Tel Aviv and Washington’s disregard for international agreements.
Following over a year of relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza, which resulted in tens of thousands of casualties, Hamas and Israel had reached a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States and other mediators. The first phase of the truce, implemented in January, saw the exchange of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners. However, while this phase concluded in March, the second phase never began.
However, the second phase never materialized. Even during the initial ceasefire, Tel Aviv repeatedly violated its terms by targeting Palestinian civilians, closing crossings, and halting humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
Israel was forced into the ceasefire for several reasons: the prolonged and exhausting nature of the war, the declining morale and physical endurance of Israeli soldiers, the continued Palestinian resistance despite Gaza’s blockade, and mounting domestic pressure from the families of Israeli prisoners and political factions, particularly against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following the first phase of the ceasefire, the pressure on Netanyahu’s cabinet eased. One of his major concerns was the potential collapse of his ruling coalition, especially if far-right parties withdrew in protest of further ceasefire negotiations.
While initially positioning itself as a mediator, the US has now signaled its full support for Israel’s renewed assault. The Wall Street Journal quoted an Israeli official who claimed that former US President Donald Trump had given the green light for Israel to resume attacks on Gaza. The official also confirmed that Tel Aviv had informed Washington of its plans in advance, a fact later acknowledged by the White House.
For weeks, Hamas has warned that Israel has been violating the ceasefire agreement—brokered by the US with the involvement of Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The group blamed Israel for deliberately obstructing the second phase of negotiations to justify resuming its attacks on Gaza.

Hamas’ only demand was to move forward with the second phase of the ceasefire, yet Israel sought to extend the current phase indefinitely—without committing to ending the war or fully withdrawing from Gaza. Instead of acting as a neutral mediator, the US has intensified its threats against Hamas, proposing an unacceptable one-month extension of the ceasefire in exchange for the release of more Israeli captives, while simultaneously escalating its rhetoric about a full-scale return to war.
Washington’s support for Israel’s violations of the ceasefire agreement has once again exposed its unreliability—not only as a mediator but as a signatory to international agreements.
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