March 2025 Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip
In the early hours of 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively ending the January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. Israel's missile and artillery attack killed more than 400 Palestinians, including 263 women and children according to the Gaza Health Ministry, making it one of the deadliest in the Gaza war. Codenamed Operation Might and Sword by the Israel Defense Forces, it was carried out in coordination with the United States. The next day, the Israeli military announced that it was conducting a ground offensive to retake the Netzarim Corridor, from which it had withdrawn in February.
On 17 January, a deal for a 42-day ceasefire was achieved, with the deal, which also calls for the release of Israeli hostages, then being approved by Israel's security cabinet in an afternoon vote. Later in the day, the deal was given full cabinet approval and signed by its negotiators. Under the agreement, all Israeli hostages would be released by the end of the second phase and the Gaza war would permanently end. After the first phase ended on 1 March, Hamas intended to move to the second phase of negotiations – as envisioned in the original ceasefire deal – while Netanyahu and the Trump administration insisted on renegotiating the overall terms. Israel also refused to withdraw from sites in the Gaza Strip, despite the fact that it had agreed to do so in the ceasefire agreement. Further, during the ceasefire, Israel killed more than 140 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In March, Israel prevented all food and medicine from entering Gaza; later it shut off electricity to the Gaza Strip's main desalination plant, effectively cutting off water. These actions have been deemed war crimes by aid organizations and human rights organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International.
The Israeli military's renewed offensive affected large parts of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Rafah, and killed more than 591 people, mostly women and children. The airstrikes struck homes and set at least one tent camp on fire. Hospitals were overwhelmed by dead and wounded. Israel's government stated that the strikes targeted leadership figures, mid-ranking military commanders, and the operational infrastructure of Hamas. This has been disputed by experts such as Miranda Cleland of Defence for Children International and Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares, who believe Israel "indiscriminately attacked" the Gaza Strip. Several Palestinian families were killed en masse as a result of the attacks.
Hamas condemned the strikes as a violation of the ceasefire, accusing Israel of endangering the remaining Israeli hostages. It began responding militarily to the Israeli strikes on 20 March, when it fired rockets at Tel Aviv. The Israeli government said it carried out the attack in response to Hamas' refusal to extend a ceasefire through additional hostage releases. Hamas had agreed to the second phase of the original ceasefire agreement, under which Israeli hostages would have been released in exchange for a permanent end to the Gaza war. The Israeli government did not consider its attack to be a breach of the ceasefire agreement, arguing that there was "no automaticity" between the phases. The escalation drew large-scale international attention, with the United Nations Security Council convening an emergency session to address the crisis.
Background
In mid-January 2025, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, pausing the Gaza war. The terms of the ceasefire deal included three phases: the first phase involved a limited exchange of over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners for 25 living and 8 dead Israeli hostages, as well as increased aid into the Gaza Strip. The second phase would complete the release of the hostages and mark the end of the war. The third phase would involve the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The details of the second phase were to be negotiated, but the Biden administration had made it clear that the first phase of the ceasefire would continue until the second phase could be agreed upon. Despite the ceasefire, the Israel Defense Forces have carried out strikes on the Gaza Strip that have killed over 150 people, including many children. The UN condemned the strikes, and Amnesty International said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.Instead of continuing to the second phase of the ceasefire per the original agreement, Israel proposed a new plan, in which Hamas would release the Israeli captives in exchange for a 50-day extension of the ceasefire. Hamas rejected this new proposal, which differed from the terms agreed in January. CBS News writes that some of Trump's and Netanyahu's proposals also contradicted the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Hamas insisted on the full implementation of the ceasefire deal agreed upon in January.
The Israeli government and the United States insisted on renegotiating the original ceasefire deal. Israel cast Hamas's preference for sticking to original deal as a "refusal" to extend the ceasefire. Israel's new proposal was to extend the original ceasefire in exchange for more prisoner-hostage exchanges; however, this extension was not part of the January ceasefire agreement. US National Security Council spokesman asserted that Hamas "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war."
According to Palestinian officials, the Israel Defense Forces violated the ceasefire hundreds of times, carrying out strikes on the Gaza Strip that had killed over 100 people. Among those killed, they said, were "civilians who were collecting firewood or checking on their homes". On the other hand, Netanyahu and Israeli officials have claimed that Hamas violated the ceasefire several times by using hostages for rituals and propaganda. In addition, Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, claimed, without providing evidence, that Hamas has violated the agreement by seizing aid supplies for itself. Hamas has denied this allegation.
On 2 March, shortly after the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, Israel shut down the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. A few days later, Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza Strip's main desalination plant, which provided drinking water for 500,000 Palestinians. Amnesty International said that shutting off all food and water indicated Israel had a policy of imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinian people – which is tantamount to genocide. Médecins Sans Frontières said depriving Palestinians of drinking water was a war crime.
On 17 and 18 March, Israeli officials stated that Palestinian militants, including Hamas, were building up their military capabilities and preparing for offensives against Israeli communities and Israeli soldiers in Gaza. Israel did not provide any evidence for these claims. Hamas denied these allegations.
Israeli domestic politics
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced pressure from far-right members of his coalition to resume war against the Gaza Strip. Throughout the war, members of Netanyahu's coalition have called for the permanent conquest of Gaza and re-establishment of Jewish settlements there. Netanyahu has thus far resisted those calls, and when he signed the ceasefire agreement in January, the Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir left Netanyahu's coalition. After Israel attacked Gaza on 18 March, Ben-Gvir rejoined the coalition. Opposition members accused Netanyahu and his government of failing to eliminate Hamas and allied groups' military capabilities or to rescue the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.Netanyahu's critics have said that the 18 March attacks are a result of Netanyahu's legal troubles. Netanyahu was scheduled on 18 March to testify in his corruption trial, but as a result of the attacks, the legal proceedings were postponed.
Proposed expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip
On 4 February 2025, Trump announced an intention to "take over" and "own" the Gaza Strip. Trump proposed that Gaza's 2 million Palestinians be permanently relocated from the Strip. This plan was supported by Netanyahu but condemned by human rights experts as a violation of international law. The 18 March attacks were done with Trump's approval.The Israeli Nachala organization had repeatedly called for Netanyahu to defeat Hamas and expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
Attacks
18 March
The attacks began on 18 March 2025, at approximately 02:20 local time during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Following a ceasefire instituted around two months prior, the Israeli strikes of 18 March 2025 were a surprise attack, with the Israeli military stating that their attack "plan was kept in closed circles in the IDF to create an element of surprise and deception."Israeli warplanes began entering Gaza at 02:30, and the Israel Defense Forces announced on Telegram that it and the Israeli Security Agency were "conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip". According to the Associated Press, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after ceasefire talks appeared to stall. The strikes have targeted Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat, Bureij, Al-Zaytoun, Al-Karama, and Beit Hanoun, according to the IDF. Al Jazeera reported strikes in Al-Mawasi, Rafah.
An unidentified Israeli military official stated to Reuters that they would continue the attacks indefinitely, and would incorporate further military elements beyond airstrikes.
An Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza stated that heavy shelling from Israeli tanks targeted eastern sections of Abasan, Khan Yunis. Six family members travelling in a car in Abasan were killed in one of the strikes. The shelling reportedly killed thirteen people. One strike in Rafah reportedly killed seventeen members of a single family. The Al-Tabi'in School in Gaza City, which was sheltering refugees at the time of the attacks, was struck, causing segments of the building to collapse. A Gaza City prison in the Al-Shati refugee camp was hit in an airstrike, collapsing the building and killing over thirty-six prisoners and prison guards.