Netanyahu: Gaza ceasefire talks to continue 'only under fire'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will escalate its renewed assault on the Gaza Strip and that "from now on, the negotiations (on Gaza ceasefire) will take place only under fire."

"We have returned to fighting with full force," Netanyahu said in a televised address. "From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing intensity."

"Hamas has already felt the weight of our might in the past 24 hours," he said. "And I want to promise you, and them: this is just the beginning."

"We will continue fighting to achieve all the war's objectives, freeing all our hostages, eliminating Hamas, and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," he said, adding, "We are reshaping the Middle East."

Netanyahu claimed that the overnight surprise attack was launched because Hamas rejected Israeli and U.S. proposals to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal that ended on March 1. The proposals demanded prolonging the first phase and Hamas freeing additional hostages.

"Military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of additional hostages," he said, dismissing media reports saying that the renewed assault was aimed at ensuring his political survival.

On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Israel's renewed assault on Gaza is not "a one-day operation."

Talking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major Washington-based pro-Israel lobbying group, in Jerusalem, Sa'ar said the initial decision to launch the attacks was made "several days ago."

He also confirmed that officials with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration "were informed before the attacks and supported it."

According to figures released by the Israeli military, Israeli forces launched on early Tuesday about 80 airstrikes across Gaza within some 10 minutes, and have killed more than 400 people so far, shattering a fragile ceasefire that took effect on January 19.

The most fundamental reason for Israel's military strike on Gaza this time is that Israel wants to continue to eliminate Hamas, Niu Xinchun, an professor of the China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University, told China Media Group (CMG).

He predicted that the crisis in the Red Sea region will also expand further following this strike.

Meanwhile, Hamas announced on Tuesday evening that it remains in constant contact with mediators and is engaging responsibly and positively with all proposals aimed at halting the Israeli "aggression" and lifting the blockade on Gaza.

In a press statement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said the movement has not rejected the proposal put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, but has responded positively to it.

Al-Qanou accused Netanyahu of resuming the war to derail the agreement.

He said Israel has tightened its blockade by closing crossings, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, and refusing to enter the second phase of negotiations, to overturn the agreement and escalate the conflict.

"Hamas is committed to maintaining the agreement and will continue to engage flexibly with mediators to prevent further aggression against the Palestinian people and hold the occupation accountable for its obligations," he said.

After Israel's large-scale military strike on the Gaza Strip, the ceasefire negotiations are likely to break down, Niu told CMG.

Israel hopes that after this military strike, Hamas will surrender and be willing to return to the negotiating table and possibly agree to the so-called transition plan proposed by the United States and Israel, but the probability of this happening is low, he said.

Wide condemnation

The Israeli airstrikes have been widely condemned by the international community.

Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain warned on Tuesday that renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip threaten regional peace and stability.

The remarks were made during separate phone conversations between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Egyptian Presidency said in two statements.

Sisi and Al-Sabah condemned Israel's resumption of hostilities in Gaza, which has so far resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, including children and women, the presidency said.

The two leaders affirmed that the Israeli attacks constitute a flagrant violation of international law and the ceasefire agreement that has been reached, affirming the Israeli airstrikes are also part of deliberate attempts to make Gaza unlivable and drive Palestinians to emigrate.

The Egyptian president and the emir of Kuwait stressed the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities to push for an immediate ceasefire, implement the two-state solution, and establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian president and king of Bahrain emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, calling on the international community to protect the people of Gaza from the "brutal aggression they are facing."

They also reiterated the importance of fully adhering to the decisions of the recent extraordinary Arab summit hosted in Cairo, particularly the Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Both sides stressed their total rejection of any actions or decisions that would lead to the displacement of Palestinians from their lands, affirming that the establishment of a Palestinian state is the only guarantee for achieving lasting peace and stability in the region.

The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that continued Israeli airstrikes on civilian and residential areas in Gaza could lead to broader instability in the enclave and pose a risk of escalating violence across the region.

The ministry called for preventing the loss of more innocent lives and the worsening of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, stopping the punitive measures affecting civilians, and halting the escalation, the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

It also urged the international community to "push for a renewed ceasefire" and for the restoration of electricity, the reopening of crossings, and the sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in Gaza, WAM reported.

(With input from Xinhua)