Israel launches waves of strikes on Gaza with more than 400 reportedly killed

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

The Israeli military says it is carrying out "extensive strikes" in the Gaza Strip, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting that more than 400 Palestinians have been killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was attacking what it called "terror targets" belonging to Hamas. The strikes are continuing and the IDF has recently issued fresh evacuation orders for many areas.

Mahmoud Abu Wafah, the deputy interior minister in Gaza and the highest-ranking Hamas security official in the territory, is among the dead.

This is the largest wave of air strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire began on 19 January. Talks to extend the Gaza ceasefire have failed to reach an agreement.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vy3k4dpz0o

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In Washington, a White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted the US administration before it carried out the strikes, which Israeli military officials said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership officials as well as infrastructure belonging to the militant group.
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In a statement issued shortly after strikes began, Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas would be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it did not release all remaining hostages it holds.
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Civil defence teams in Gaza said they were overwhelmed. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams dealt with 86 killed and 134 wounded, but others were brought to hospitals by private cars.

Officials from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza and al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, which have all been extensively damaged in the war, said that altogether they had received about 85 dead. Witnesses reported bloody scenes with “body parts, corpses and the injured filling the floors of the hospitals”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/18/israel-gaza-strikes-deaths-latest-update

Katz seems to have forgotten that if you open the gates of hell yourself, that makes you the devil.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Belgium and Malta condemn attacks; Switzerland calls for ceasefire to resume; Egypt calls this a "flagrant violation"

Belgium’s deputy prime minister Maxime Prevot condemned the airstrikes, saying their “heavy toll” undermines the objectives of the ceasefire with Hamas and makes the return of Israeli hostages less likely. “The blocking of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians constitutes a serious violation of international law,” he added in a post on X.

Robert Abela, Malta’s prime minister, said his government “strongly condemn” the “barbarous attacks” by the Israeli military on the Gaza Strip.

Switzerland’s foreign ministry reacted to the deadly overnight airstrikes by stressing “the obligation to protect the civilian population”. “Switzerland calls for an immediate return to the ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid,” it said in a post on X.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/mar/18/israel-gaza-live-blog-updates-air-strikes-strip-netanyahu-hamas?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-67d94be08f0893a2e29f283d#block-67d94be08f0893a2e29f283d

Egypt, a key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, has called the Israeli attacks a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire deal”.

In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said that it rejects “all Israeli attacks which aim to … make ongoing efforts to de-escalate and regain stability fail”.

It called for the international community to “to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”.
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Cairo has been a key diplomatic site for officials working on the next stages of three-phase ceasefire deal, which has collapsed following the overnight Israeli airstrikes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/mar/18/israel-gaza-live-blog-updates-air-strikes-strip-netanyahu-hamas?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-67d957d68f0846970b3a2eb8#block-67d957d68f0846970b3a2eb8

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Why did Netanyahu decide to kill 400 Palestinians today?

A second reason cited is that Israel had the full backing of the Trump administration for renewed attacks against Hamas.

Then there are the domestic political factors, cited extensively by the Israeli prime minister’s critics. Netanyahu needs support from rightwing allies to win crucial votes in Israel’s parliament in coming days and weeks, and to maintain his grip on power. These allies have fiercely opposed a permanent end to hostilities in Gaza, with one resigning from his ministerial post in protest at the January ceasefire. This vital support is now assured – at least in the short term.

Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption. If found guilty, he could face prison. On Tuesday, a court approved Netanyahu’s request not to appear at a hearing on Tuesday “due to the renewal of the war”, Israeli media reported.

On Sunday, Netanyahu announced he would seek to dismiss the head of the Israeli’s internal security service. This has been seen as a further attempt to override democratic checks in Israel and big protests are expected later this week. These can now be portrayed as unpatriotic by Netanyahu’s supporters. Successive recent polls have shown Israelis overwhelmingly in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza to bring back the 59 hostages still there, though support for a war until “total victory” over Hamas remains strong.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/18/why-has-israel-resumed-large-scale-airstrikes-on-gaza

[bdamomma]

10. This sentence below explains it all, killing people to stay out of prison. Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption. If found guilty, he could face prison. On Tuesday, a court approved Netanyahu’s request not to appear at a hearing on Tuesday “due to the renewal of the war”, Israeli media reported.

[Lonestarblue]

11. Trump needs Bibi to finish murdering the Palestinians so Trump Org. can build his version of the Riviera.

[travelingthrulife]

3. Israel and the US. World pariahs.

All so sad and senseless.

[Ray Bruns]

4. I guess this throws out any claim Bibi has of trying to get the hostages back alive.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Evil twins strike again. Conspiring in murder of innocents.

[harun]

6. I remember when collective punishment was condemned. Not even mentioned now.

[ReRe]

7. At times like this I scream "There is no God!

What did those poor cold hungry and now homeless Palestinians do now?

[mountain grammy]

8. Sickening...

[bdamomma]

9. It's becoming

crimes against all humanity now. War crimes being committed too. This is just sickening. That we have this Felon POS not giving a crap about anyone.

[HereonAddict]

12. Warning label

Comments such as these may result in disappearance, rendition, or deportation.

[maxsolomon]

13. They're out of ideas beyond force.

Force won't return hostages. Only negotiations leading to concessions.

One assumes they struck reconstituted Hamas positions...