Israel’s war in Gaza resumed in full force last week after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire and a deadlock in negotiations over the release of the remaining hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new wave of airstrikes, quickly followed by coordinated ground operations in three key areas: the Netzarim Corridor, Gaza’s northern coastline and the Rafah district in the south.

With expanded U.S. support and favorable shifts in the regional landscape, this next phase signals a significant evolution in Israel’s military objectives, from degrading Hamas’s battlefield capabilities to dismantling its ability to govern.

«We’ve been fighting them for 10 days,» said Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (res.), former Israeli national security advisor. «All they’ve managed to do is fire seven rockets. That tells you how much damage we’ve inflicted already.»

ISRAEL LAUNCHES NEW GROUND OPERATION IN GAZA

A senior Israeli security official told Fox News Digital: «We seized weapons caches, labs, and command centers. Hamas today is not functioning like an army. It’s a dangerous terror group, but it’s not what it was on October 7.»

According to Israeli data, most of Hamas’s senior command has been eliminated and only fragmented units remain.

«They’ve lost their experienced leadership,» the official said. «They’re operating in survival mode.»

This time, Israel is operating under dramatically improved conditions, both militarily and diplomatically.

«The strategic environment has changed,» Amidror told Fox News Digital. «Hezbollah is weaker, Iran is constrained, and the American administration is offering us true support. They’re not telling us where to bomb or how to fight.»

With fewer threats on other fronts and strong backing from the Trump administration, the IDF has broadened its scope to include Hamas’s political leadership.

«We’re not just degrading military capabilities anymore,» Amidror said. «We’re dismantling the structure that allowed Hamas to govern.»

During the pause in fighting, Hamas consolidated control over humanitarian aid, confiscating supplies, reselling goods and using them to recruit fighters and maintain loyalty. Israeli officials now say that won’t be allowed to continue.

TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

Hamas terrorists watch as hostages are released to the Red Cross as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. (TPS-IL)

«We are working to find a solution so that humanitarian aid reaches civilians and is not weaponized by Hamas,» the senior Israeli security official explained. He noted that Gaza currently has sufficient food reserves and that Israel is developing new delivery mechanisms that bypass Hamas entirely.

Fifty-nine Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity. Their continued detention has sparked nationwide protests, with families urging the government to prioritize a negotiated release. But the renewed fighting puts those hostages in greater danger.

«The only real limitation is the hostages,» Amidror acknowledged. «We want them alive, and fighting a war while trying to protect them is a huge challenge.»

«My position is that first we have to get the hostages back, even if we need to commit to end the war and pull back to a security perimeter,» said Ram Ben Barak, former deputy head of Mossad and current Knesset member. «We can commit to that, but only if Hamas gives all the hostages back. If they don’t, that alone is a reason to go back to war. And even if Hamas does return them, we’ll be watching. If Hamas starts smuggling weapons again or training fighters, that, too, will be a reason to go in and hit them hard.»

Israeli soldiers sit on a tank in front of the northern Gaza Strip as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on March 18, 2025. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

The security official said military pressure is part of a coordinated effort to bring the hostages home.

«They released a group of hostages earlier than planned because of the pressure we applied in Netzarim when they refused to release Arbel Yehud,» he said.

Despite tactical gains, Israeli leaders know the war cannot eliminate Hamas’s ideology. The mission, they say, is to prevent it from ever ruling Gaza again.

MORE AID IS SUPPOSED TO BE ENTERING THE GAZA STRIP. WHY ISN’T IT HELPING?

Israeli troops encircle Tel al-Sultan in Gaza. (IDF)

«We won’t go back to the days when we let them quietly build an army,» Ben Barak told Fox News Digital. «We’ll strike every time we see military training or arms smuggling. They’ll never have tanks or armored vehicles again.»

Ben Barak said Israel can’t remain in Gaza long-term: «If we stay like we did in Lebanon for 19 years, we’ll leave in shame. The only way to win is to have someone else replace Hamas and govern Gaza.»

He also pointed to the West Bank as a partial model: «In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority governs, and we operate from the perimeter when needed. We need the same in Gaza: an internationally backed civil authority that rebuilds the [Gaza] Strip and keeps Hamas out.»

Still, he cautioned against illusions of peace.

«There won’t be peace in the next 20 years. But like Egypt did with the Muslim Brotherhood, we can suppress Hamas’s ideology and stop it from taking root again.»

Ben Barak also said Gazans who wish to leave should be allowed to: «Let them out. If they have visas and want to go, Israel should let them. It will make military operations easier in a less densely populated area.»

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Israeli forces are now deeply embedded in Gaza, with simultaneous operations in the north, south and central regions.

«These aren’t symbolic moves,» Amidror said. «We’re positioning ourselves for the next stage. We will eventually need to reach every tunnel, blow up the infrastructure, and kill every Hamas terrorist. It is achievable, but it will take at least a year.»

Houthi militants in Yemen are claiming responsibility for recent attacks against U.S. warships in the Red Sea. 

The terror group claimed in a statement published by the Jerusalem Post Tuesday that they had attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and several U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

Early on Wednesday, the Houthis said they had targeted a U.S. vessel and Israeli military locations using drones.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.

TRUMP’S SIGHTS SET ON IRAN AFTER US AIRSTRIKES DECIMATE MORE THAN 30 HOUTHI TARGETS

The Houthis had claimed earlier this month that they had attacked the Truman and its warship in response to U.S. attacks on Yemen, but offered no evidence to support their claim of retaliation.

The U.S. military had shot down several Houthi drones a short time before the group’s claim.

This comes after several Trump administration officials discussed plans for a forthcoming military strike against the Houthis in a group chat on the encrypted messaging service Signal in which they mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who said he received a request to join the group on March 11 from what appeared to be the president’s National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.

The group, called «Houthi PC Small Group,» featured top Trump officials discussing what turned out to be an upcoming attack on the Houthis, as many are criticizing the group chat as a massive breach of national security and note that senior officials are not supposed to discuss detailed military plans outside special secure facilities or protected government communications networks.

TRUMP OFFICIALS ACCIDENTALLY TEXT ATLANTIC JOURNALIST ABOUT MILITARY STRIKES IN APPARENT SECURITY BREACH

The Houthis claimed they had attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and several U.S. warships in the Red Sea. (Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Goldberg reported that 18 people were listed in the group, including Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

The article noted that officials were discussing «war plans,» and Goldberg said he elected not to publish some of the highly sensitive information he saw in the Signal chat, including precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing, because of potential threats to national security and military operations.

The editor also said that Ratcliffe put the name of a CIA undercover agent into the Signal chat.

The Houthis said they had targeted a U.S. vessel and Israeli military locations using drones. (AP)

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The White House has confirmed that the group chat «appears to be authentic,» although administration officials, including Hegseth, have sought to downplay concerns and discredit Goldberg as a reporter.

«I’ve heard how it was characterized. Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,» Hegseth said Monday.

Hegseth criticized Goldberg as «a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again, to include the, I don’t know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax or suckers and losers hoax. So this guy is garbage.»

Agua, víveres, medicinas, baterías para poder quedarse en casa tres días sin salir. La Comisión Europea elabora un plan para que los hogares europeos cuenten con provisiones para resistir, al menos durante las primeras 72 horas, una posible catástrofe climática. O bélica.

Esta preparación civil ante un eventual ataque involucra a los más de 448 millones de personas que viven en alguno de los países que integran la Unión Europea (UE). Representan el 5,6 por ciento de la población mundial.

“En un contexto de aumento de los riesgos naturales y antropogénicos, y de deterioro de las perspectivas de seguridad para Europa, es urgente que la UE y sus estados miembros refuercen su preparación”, subraya el borrador de la Estrategia de Preparación de la Unión que en España adelantó este martes el diario El País.

“Las personas y los hogares deben poder mantenerse de forma independiente durante los tres primeros días, garantizando el acceso a necesidades esenciales como agua, alimentos, medicamentos y servicios básicos antes de que llegue la ayuda exterior”, postula el documento.

Europa comienza a tomar conciencia de que debe reforzar su seguridad y mejorar su defensa, mientras el cielo protector de la OTAN pareciera debilitarse y Estados Unidos se sienta a negociar una posible paz entre Ucrania y Rusia, que lleva más de tres años invadiendo suelo ucraniano, sin la participación de ningún otro de los 27 países que integran la Unión.

Preparar a los hogares europeos para que puedan resistir tres días es una de las treinta propuestas de esta estrategia de protección ante la crisis que podría desencadenarse por efecto del cambio climático, de un ciberataque o de una guerra.

Bruselas encargó un informe sobre cómo protegerse de posibles agresiones a Salud Ninistö, ex presidente de Finlandia. Por su extrema vecindad con Rusia, Finlandia ejercita la preparación para lo que los finlandeses llaman «defensa total”, un plan que incluye la participación ciudadana en la seguridad nacional.

“La Comisión elaborará directrices que cubran el almacenamiento de suministros esenciales, la planificación de crisis y las medidas para proteger a las personas, los animales y las propiedades en caso de crisis, y trabajará con los estados miembros y la sociedad civil para garantizar su difusión. Estas directrices se integrarán en sesiones de formación, talleres e iniciativas comunitarias, garantizando una amplia difusión y compromiso a todos los niveles”, aclara el borrador.

Suecia ya ha repartidos manuales de supervivencia entre su población y Francia dio a conocer un modelo de mochila equipada con lo indispensable para subsistir 72 horas.

“La Comisión ayudará a los estados miembros a alcanzar la autosuficiencia de la población durante al menos 72 horas en toda la UE. En caso de perturbaciones extremas, es posible que las autoridades públicas no puedan cubrir las necesidades básicas de todos en el periodo inicial de una crisis”, señala el borrador de la Estrategia de Preparación de la Unión Europea.

Y aclara: “Una plataforma en línea de la UE proporcionará a los ciudadanos y viajeros información adaptada y accesible sobre los riesgos a los que se enfrentan y las medidas prácticas para mitigarlos”.

El presidente Pedro Sánchez llevará al Congreso de los Diputados este miércoles su intención de aumentar el gasto en defensa, una medida combatida por la mayoría de los grupos parlamentarios, incluidos sus socios en la coalición de gobierno, Sumar.

España aporta a la OTAN el 1,3 por ciento de su Producto Bruto Interno (PBI) y el propósito de Sánchez es llegar, antes de 2029, al 2 por ciento que los miembros de la OTAN acordaron en 2014.

La estrategia europea apunta a prescindir, cada vez más, de aquellas materias primas, como el litio, el cobre o el cobalto, que se utilizan para las baterías de los automóviles o para los celulares.

Con ese objetivo, pretende impulsar 47 proyectos, siete de los cuales están en suelo español.

«Si Europa quiere evitar la guerra debe prepararse para la guerra”, dijo hace unos días la presidenta de la Comisión Europea, Ursula von der Layen.

“La preparación y la resiliencia de Europa frente a la violencia armada podrían ponerse a prueba en el futuro”, insiste el documento que se debatirá este miércoles en Bruselas.