For weeks, Israel and Hamas had been locked in fruitless negotiations to extend the fragile cease-fire in Gaza and exchange more Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The talks stalled because Hamas refused to release significant numbers of hostages until Israel promised to permanently end the war — a move that Israel would not make unless Hamas agreed to give up power.
Now, Israel appears to have returned to war in an attempt to break that deadlock.
Israel’s heavy overnight attacks on Gaza stopped short of an immediate ground invasion, but they were already a harsh reminder to Hamas of the brutal destruction that the group and Gaza’s civilian population face if it doesn’t compromise over a cease-fire extension.
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