Netanyahu orders «immediate, powerful» response in Gaza

The fragile peace plan brokered by Donald Trump is now in disarray after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered «immediate, powerful» airstrikes on Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement and staging the discovery of a deceased hostage.

This abrupt escalation, announced on Tuesday after emergency security consultations in Jerusalem, has thrown months of US-led diplomatic efforts into turmoil and reignited fears of a rapid return to open conflict in the region

«Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out “immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip.”»

At the end of the security consultations, Netanyahu informed the United States that he had ordered the military to carry out what his office described as «immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip.»

The Prime Minister’s office released a brief statement declaring: «Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out “immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip.”»

A military official accused Hamas of attacking Israeli troops east of the so-called yellow line — the boundary separating Israeli-occupied Gaza from the rest of the territory — during Tuesday’s clashes, warning that Hamas would pay a «heavy price» for targeting Israeli soldiers.

«We’re going to have peace, if you think about it — peace in the Middle East for the first time in, they say-really, 3,000 years.»

-Donald Trump

The massive attack comes as thousands of Palestinians had begun returning to their neighborhoods, humanitarian aid deliveries from Israel had resumed, and search operations were underway to recover the bodies of hostages buried beneath the rubble left by months of intense Israeli bombardments.

Many observers had already questioned the durability of the ceasefire and the broader peace plan, which Trump had hailed as a historic end to the conflict.

At the time, Trump celebrated what he described as a historic breakthrough between Israel and Gaza, declaring: «We’re going to have peace, if you think about it — peace in the Middle East for the first time in, they say-really, 3,000 years.»