Israeli air strikes in Gaza: why has ceasefire collapsed?

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Israel has launched a wave of air strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of people and brought the fragile ceasefire with Hamas to the brink of collapse.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza claims more than 400 people have died, including senior Hamas officials as well as women and children.

While the exact number of casualties has yet to be verified, what is certain is that the “surprise attack” has “shattered a period of relative calm” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said The Associated Press. It has also “raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza”.

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The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was “already hanging in the balance”, said CNN. Phase one, which was agreed in January, saw a cessation in fighting and the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. It ended more than two weeks ago with “all sides at loggerheads over a path forward that might see remaining Israeli hostages freed and a permanent peace secured”.

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the overnight attacks on Hamas targets because of the “repeated refusal to release our hostages”. The US, which was consulted by Israel before the air strikes began, has also sought to blame Hamas. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war”.

Yet the strikes come as Netanyahu faces “mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency”, said Time. He has repeatedly been accused of escalating the war to distract from his legal problems and “his latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was cancelled after the strikes”.

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