March 17, 2025 / JNS) The Israeli military conducted “extensive” strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced early on Tuesday morning. “This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” the Israeli prime minister’s office stated. The IDF is “attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” the statement continued. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Jerusalem had consulted the Trump administration before launching the operation, which the Israeli military named “Strength and Sword.”