The Israeli army continued to strike the Gaza Strip during the night of Tuesday, March 18. These limited attacks were not a sign of the resumption of open warfare, but rather a new stage in the renewed pressure on Hamas, enabling the embattled Benjamin Netanyahu to regain control of the military, political and psychological situation.

Negotiations to free the Israeli hostages have stalled since the Israeli prime minister stepped outside the framework of the ceasefire agreement that came into force on January 19. Hamas, for its part, wants to return to the negotiated plan, in particular the second phase of the agreement, which was supposed to begin on March 2 and allow the establishment of a lasting calm and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.

On March 2, the Israeli government instead halted the entry of humanitarian aid. From that moment on, the truce was formally broken. A week later, on March 9, the electricity supply to a water desalination plant was cut off. Then, on Tuesday, there was a lightning aerial attack that lasted a little more than 10 minutes. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, more than 400 people were killed by the Israeli army. Among them were 170 children and 80 women. This massacre illustrated how the threshold of acceptance for violence has increased since October 7. This toll is equivalent, for example, to the cumulative toll of the Israeli offensives on Gaza in November 2012 and May 2021, which lasted six and 11 days respectively.

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