According to the Associated Press, a senior Hamas official warned that after the ceasefire, Israel decided to resume war against terrorist groups, which was the “death penalty” for the remaining hostages.
This may include the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, who was born in Tel Aviv and raised in New Jersey. A group of hostage family members expressed anger at Israel’s decision.
The hostages and missing families forum said Israel “chooses to give up the hostages” to resume the war. The group called for protests Tuesday after the air strikes, saying “Military pressure could further endanger their lives and complicate their efforts to return home safely.”
Gaza still has 59 hostages, but Israel believes only 24 people are still alive. The purpose of the ceasefire is divided into two stages. However, negotiations in the second phase will end the war and the release of the remaining hostages has stalled.
Officials said
Palestinians inspected the location of the Israeli strike on March 18, 2025 on a residential building in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (Reuters/Ramadan)
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the Israeli air strikes left over more than 400 Palestinians, including women and children, including women and children. Fox News cannot independently confirm the number of deaths caused by the terrorist group-controlled ministries.
“The emergency room on the floor is just messy and there are patients everywhere,” Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan, a Palestinian medical assistant volunteer at Nasser Hospital, told the Associated Press. She apparently treated several patients who died in the emergency room.
This marks the end of a nearly two-month ceasefire that released multiple hostages. The IDF announced on Twitter that the Jewish state is conducting a “widespread strike on terrorist targets” in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a security assessment in Kirya, Tel Aviv, with Defense Minister Katz, IDF chief Eyal Zamir and other security officials.
The IDF said Tuesday that its targets are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad, which include launch posts, weapons stocks and military infrastructure.
According to Reuters, Egypt has reportedly called on all parties to show restraint and strive to achieve a long-term ceasefire.
Hamas says US-Israel hostages will be released only when a ceasefire is implemented
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with security officials in the Israeli version of the Pentagon, Kirya, after the air strike.
“Israel will act against Hamas with an increasing military force,” the Netanyahu office wrote in a series of posts about X at the start of the air strike.
A child sat in rubble as Palestinians checked the location of the Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the Southern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025. (Reuters/Hatem Khaled)
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According to the Associated Press, Israel ordered Palestinians to evacuate eastern Gaza, marking that the IDF could resume its ground operations on the streets.
The high commissioner of the UN Human Rights Human Rights Volker Turk’s office called the air strike “terror” and said “this nightmare must end immediately.”
“It’s time for countries around the world to take our unwavering commitment seriously, return all hostages to the enemy and defeat them,” Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement. “Let me know: nothing can stop us from fighting to release the hostages who were imprisoned by cruel Hamas for 527 days.”
Fox News’ Trey Yingst, Louis Casiano, Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to the report.
