Former operations officer in IDF Gaza Division: In the last two months, the terrorist group sought to rearm itself and prepare for the next round.
Yaakov Lappin
(JNS)
At 2.20 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning, the Israeli Air Force restarted large-scale action against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Included in the first batch of some 80 targets, struck in just minutes, were senior- and medium-ranking members of Hamas’s political regime and key military infrastructure sites.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the renewal of military action, while the Israeli government and security establishment coordinated the decision to resume operations against the terrorist regime in Gaza.
The decision followed Hamas’s repeated refusal to release hostages despite multiple mediation efforts, particularly those led by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Netanyahu. The renewed strikes mark a decisive shift in Israel’s approach, signaling both military escalation and political determination to achieve its war objectives.
However, JNS has learned, the renewal of Israeli military operations was driven not only by Hamas’s refusal to release hostages but also by clear intelligence indicating that the terrorist organization had used the ceasefire period to strengthen its military capabilities. During the two-month truce, which began on January 19, Hamas worked to rebuild its forces, stockpile weapons, and prepare for future attacks.
The Israeli response targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, senior figures in its political wing, and key terrorist infrastructure. The strikes were part of a sustained military effort designed to degrade Hamas’s operational capabilities while applying pressure to release hostages.
The timing of the operation was also influenced by intelligence assessments that Hamas was preparing new attacks. The group had been observed reinforcing its military positions and laying explosives along expected IDF entry routes.
These activities suggested a concerted effort to prepare for a new, cross-border attack targeting Israeli communities, prompting the IDF to act preemptively. The military operation is expected to continue as long as necessary, with the scope potentially expanding based on battlefield and diplomatic developments.
Hamas’s repeated declarations about its intention to conduct further attacks reinforced the perception that it was merely using the ceasefire as a tactical pause to prepare more murderous attacks against Israel. Israeli intelligence had been closely monitoring Hamas’s activities and concluded that its leadership remained committed to its goal of carrying out new large-scale operations on Israeli territory.
Given this assessment, waiting any longer would have allowed Hamas to further entrench itself. While the current phase of the operation remains focused on airstrikes, Israeli officials have indicated that a military escalation remains a possibility. The IDF’s extensive aerial campaign was executed with overwhelming force.
A joint announcement by the IDF and Shin Bet intelligence agency (ISA) on Tuesday stated that they were “continuing to strike terror targets belonging to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip. The targets struck over the past few hours include terrorist cells, launch posts, weapons stockpiles, and additional military infrastructure used by these terror organizations to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”
The strikes took Hamas by surprise. The scale and speed of the attack were designed to inflict maximum damage while minimizing Hamas’s ability to respond effectively.
According to a subsequent IDF-Shin Bet statement, the operation resulted in the elimination of senior Hamas officials, including:
- Essam al-Da’alis, head of the Hamas government in Gaza, and the most senior figure of authority in Gaza.
- Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed Abu-Watfa, Hamas’s minister of internal affairs and the head of its internal security forces, which the IDF said were also used for terrorist missions.
- Bahajat Hassan Mohammed Abu-Sultan, the head of Hamas’s internal security forces who engaged in terrorism.
- Ahmed Amar Abdullah Alhata, Hamas’s minister of justice, whose role included the use of Hamas-controlled legal institutions for terror-related purposes.
The targeted killings of these figures significantly weakened Hamas’s internal organizational structure and disrupted its ability to maintain governance and military coordination.
Col. (res) Yaron Buskila, a former operations officer in the IDF Gaza Division, told journalists in a call organized by the Jerusalem Press Club on Tuesday: “There were actually three objectives for this attack. The first one, and I think the most important one, is to removing the immediate threat of a Hamas raid on the Israeli positions or again on the Israeli villages. And we know about the threats. In the last two months since the ceasefire, the Hamas tried to arm itself again and to prepare for the next round.”
He added: “We had a lot of alerts that the Hamas is preparing to raid. It can be civilians who are working in the field next to the border, or against the Israeli villages.”
The second objective, said Buskila, “is to push Hamas again to the negotiation table under the terms of the first round.”
Hamas is currently attempting to engineer negotiations in a manner that would allow it to remain as Gaza’s ruler and armed force and prepare a new Oct.-7-style mass assault on Israel, according to Buskila.
“We can never know when [Hamas will try to attack again]. And that’s one of the things that we cannot allow. We have to stay, leave our forces in the Philadelphi Corridor and go inside Gaza again to fight against Hamas, to make sure Hamas will not stay in Gaza anymore. Otherwise, they will just arm themselves again and prepare for the next raid.”
The third objective, Buskila said, is to remove threats to Israel such as explosive devices, rockets and anti-tank missiles that were planted by Hamas in Gazan homes, along roads which the IDF is expected to enter in a future ground operation.
Buskila stressed that “Israel is trying to exhaust as many ways as possible to free the hostages,” adding, however, that “it is clear to us that the Hamas will not release everyone without achieving its goal because they [the hostages] are only assets that they have in their hands.”
“So if you want to change the terms of the next negotiation, we have to get inside Gaza and to fight again, and to go back to the table with terms that are better for Israel.”
In a statement to the nation on Tuesday, Netanyahu said: “Hamas refused offer after offer to release our hostages. In the past two weeks, Israel did not initiate any military action in the hope that Hamas would change course. Well, that didn’t happen. While Israel accepted the offer of President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Hamas flatly refused to do so. This is why I authorized yesterday the renewal of military action against Hamas.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced this message during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase, southern Israel, declaring: “Hamas must understand that the rules of the game have changed. If it does not immediately release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open, and it will face the full force of the IDF—by air, sea, and land—until its total destruction.”
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the new IDF chief of staff, toured Rafah in the southern Gaza on Tuesday and reiterated the IDF’s commitment to securing southern Israel, telling troops: “Your mission is to protect the communities here. We are engaged in an ongoing operation against Hamas, alongside the IDF’s full obligation to bring back the hostages.”
At present, the operation remains an air campaign, but Israeli officials have made it clear that a ground incursion will follow if Hamas continues to refuse to change its position.
Image: Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, center, during a tour of the Rafah area in southern Gaza on March 18, 2025.
Credit: IDF.
