(VOVWORLD) - Israel’s resumption of large-scale attacks on the Gaza Strip last week has shattered the fragile hope of extending the ceasefire that had held for the past two months and risks thrusting Gaza and the whole Middle East into a new and even more dangerous cycle of violence.
 A Palestinian is injured in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on March 19, 2025. (Photo: AP) |
The Israeli army has conducted airstrikes and artillery fire against targets throughout Gaza, killing at least 200 people and collapsing the ceasefire agreed to on January 19.
Violence escalates
After the first airstrike on March 18, international spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Nadav Shoshani said Israel had to launch preemptive attacks to put pressure on Hamas to release all remaining hostages and prevent Hamas from launching assaults like those on October 7, 2023, which targeted multiple sites in Israel.
In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes, ordered civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate, and accelerated preparations for a new large-scale ground offensive. The renewed cycle of violence in Gaza has had severe consequences. According to Gaza's Health Authority, Israel’s military actions killed 730 people and injured 1,300 after a week of Israel resuming military action there.
UN staff and members of other international humanitarian organizations have also become victims. UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reported that an Israeli tank shell hit a UN compound in Gaza’s Deir al Balah neighborhood, killing one staff member and seriously injuring six others. On Monday, a Red Cross building in Rafah was also struck by shellfire. Due to the escalating danger, the UN on Monday reduced its Gaza staff by one-third and scaled back its operations in the region.
Dujarric said Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza for three weeks is unacceptable and he urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to end the crisis.
“All parties must comply fully with the international law at all times. All states must use their leverage to stop the conflict and ensure respect for international law by applying diplomatic and economic pressures and combating impunity,” said Dujarric.
Despite international concerns, the Israeli government says it will go ahead with its plans. In recent days, the IDF has also carried out multiple airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Syria, increasing fears of a new cycle of violence in the Middle East similar to late last year when no ceasefire agreements were in place.
IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said: “We have said in the army different plans for different scenarios. We have capabilities to set out different things. We will act according to the situation and according to the conditions on the ground,” said Shoshani.
 Gaza is in ruins. (Photo: Reuters) |
Gaza reconstruction plan threatened
With the death toll now exceeding 50,000 since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted in October 2023, countries are stepping up diplomatic efforts to restore the ceasefire.
Regional sources reported that Egypt on Monday proposed a new plan to revive the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Under Egypt’s proposal, Hamas would release five Israeli hostages per week, and Israel would, after the first week, implement the second phase of the ceasefire. The plan includes the release of all hostages in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza, with US guarantees.
Some sources say both the US and Hamas have agreed to the proposal, but Israel has yet to respond. Meanwhile, European nations, whose view of the Gaza conflict is similar to the view of Arab countries, have urged Israel to resume negotiations.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said: “Resuming negotiations is the only feasible way to end the suffering on all sides. Violence feeds more violence. What we are witnessing now is a dangerous escalation. It is causing unbearable uncertainty for the hostages, their families, and for the Palestinian people.”
Observers say the current violence not only prolongs the conflict and worsens the already dire humanitarian situation of millions of exhausted civilians, it also risks the ambitious Gaza reconstruction plan approved by Arab nations earlier this month.
The Arab nations and the UN are scheduled to hold a summit in April to create a mechanism and roadmap for allocating 53 billion USD to rebuild Gaza and to set up a post-conflict governance structure.
However, the ongoing fighting makes it difficult to completely sideline Hamas’s political role in Gaza’s post-war future, although this is the key condition set by the US, Israel, and Europe.