In the hours before the nighttime strike, an update was received from the mediators and the negotiation team: Hamas is refusing to compromise, an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.
“The de facto leader of Hamas, Mohammed Sinwar, is placing obstacles in the attempts to reach agreements,” the source told the Post. “Hamas is currently refusing to release hostages according to the Witkoff proposal.”
In the proposal presented last week by Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Qatar, it was stipulated that Hamas would release five living hostages and return the bodies of several hostages who had been killed in exchange for a few weeks of ceasefire.
On Friday, Hamas announced that it was willing to release the Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander and return the bodies of four hostages, a proposal that the Trump administration also deemed “unacceptable.”
During the late-night consultations on Monday evening, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir urged the participants—including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—”We must take proactive action. It cannot be that there is no fire, but also no negotiations.”
Fighting resumes
In the end, the participants in the discussion unanimously supported resuming fighting in Gaza. The head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, also supported the proposal, claiming that in the absence of any progress towards a comprehensive deal, an offensive initiative could exert pressure on Hamas.
In Israel, there is hope that the US will now apply pressure on the mediators and that the mediators will then apply pressure on Hamas. “The US is 100% with us,” an Israeli source told the Post. “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” US National Council Spokesman Brian Hughes told the Post. Minister Ron Dermer updated Steve Witkoff ahead of the strike. ‘There was no need for a green light, due to the simple fact that Trump said ‘what’s next – is Israel’s decision,’ said an Israeli official.
A source familiar with the details told the Post that “the mediators are in a blitz to bring the sides back to the negotiating table.” Israel also made it clear that from now on, there will be no negotiations unless they are conducted under fire: “Every few days, we will escalate our responses. Hamas needs to wake up and agree to a deal,” an Israeli source concluded.
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