According to Hamas, the latest Israeli attack on Gaza could endanger the ceasefire

A new Israeli attack on Gaza on Monday jeopardized ceasefire talks at a crucial moment, the Hamas chief said, as Israeli tanks advanced into the heart of Gaza City and urged residents to leave after a night of massive bombardment.

Residents said the airstrikes and artillery fire were among the heaviest in the nine-month conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militias in the enclave. Thousands fled.

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The attack came as senior U.S. officials were in the region pushing for a ceasefire after Hamas made major concessions last week. The militant group said the new offensive appeared aimed at derailing talks and urged mediators to keep Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in check.

The attack “could throw the negotiation process back to square one. Netanyahu and his army bear full responsibility for the failure of this path,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said.

Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave was one of Israel’s first targets when the war began in October. But clashes with militant groups continued there and civilians sought refuge elsewhere, which further increased the wave of refugees. Much of the city lies in ruins.

Residents reported that neighborhoods in Gaza City were bombed throughout the night and into the early hours of Monday morning. Several multi-story buildings were destroyed, they said.

The Gaza Emergency Service said dozens of people had been killed, but that emergency services were unable to reach them due to the ongoing offensive.

Gaza residents reported that tanks advanced from at least three directions on Monday and reached central Gaza, backed by heavy Israeli fire from the air and ground.

This forced thousands of people to leave their homes and look for safer accommodation, but many could not find one and some slept on the side of the road.

A tank advance pushed people towards the western road near the Mediterranean Sea, residents reported.

“The enemy is behind us and the sea is in front of us. Where should we go?” asked Abdel-Ghani, a Gaza City resident who did not give his full name.

“Tank shells and rockets from planes are raining down on the streets and houses like a volcano. People are running in all directions and no one knows where to go,” Abdel-Ghani told Reuters via a chat app.

The Israeli military said fighters from Hamas and its allied Islamic Jihad group hid behind civilian infrastructure to attack Israeli forces. Israel said it had incapacitated more than 30 fighters.

Later on Monday, it issued new evacuation orders for the Gaza areas of Sabra, Rimal, Tel Al-Hawa and Daraj, and urged people to head to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it would open a route for the evacuation of civilians.

The Palestinian Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they fired mortar shells at Israeli forces during the attack in southwest Gaza City.

The war began on October 7, when fighters led by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli sources.

Since then, at least 38,193 Palestinians have been killed and 87,903 injured in the military offensive, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday. A total of 40 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.

HOPE FOR A BREAK

The new Israeli offensive comes as Egypt, Qatar and the United States step up their mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Gaza residents’ hopes of a halt to fighting were revived after Hamas accepted a key part of a US ceasefire proposal last week. A representative of the Israeli negotiating team then spoke of a real chance of an agreement.

Hamas has dropped its demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before the Palestinian movement can sign an agreement.

Instead, the militant group said it would allow negotiations during the first six-week phase to achieve that goal, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.

Netanyahu stressed that the agreement should not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war aims are achieved. At the beginning of the war, he promised to destroy Hamas.

An agreement would jeopardize Netanyahu’s ability to maintain power through a coalition that includes far-right parties that have repeatedly announced their intention to resign if he ends the war too early.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, of a party representing Israelis living in occupied Palestinian territory, condemned the possible agreement as “a defeat and humiliation for Israel.”

“Mr. Prime Minister, this is not an absolute victory. This is a total failure. We will not be part of an agreement to surrender to Hamas,” Smotrich said at a meeting of his party on Monday.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said he would support Netanyahu in office if the prime minister lost power over a deal. “I promised him a safety net and I will keep that promise,” Lapid said.