Israel stalls ceasefire talks with Hamas before resuming attacks in Gaza

Israel's overnight attack on Gaza halted just before an immediate ground invasion, suggesting that its leader could be waiting to measure Hamas' response before returning to a full-scale ground war, analysts said Tuesday.

The Israeli strike, which health authorities say killed more than 250 people, follows weeks of fruitless negotiations over an extension of the country's ceasefire with Hamas. The talks went dead after Israel pushed Hamas to release a significant number of hostages. This was a move Hamas didn't want to do without assurance that Israel would allow Israel to remain in power in Gaza after the war ended.

The nature of Israeli strikes on Tuesday morning suggests that its leadership is trying to force Hamas to compromise with those talks. This is a deadly and dangerous tactic that still leads to a full-scale war, analysts said.

Israel is seeking to “push Hamas to show flexibility” by focusing on missile strikes instead of ground operations.

“Personally, I don't think Hamas is ready to give up the red line,” Milstein said. “I am very worried about finding myself in a limited war of decline within a few days. An ongoing airstrike, but not ready from Hamas.”

Six hours after the fire began, Hamas had not yet been fired. Because its military capabilities were so diminished early in the war, or because it attempted to avoid a stronger response from Israel.

However, it showed no official signs of retreating in negotiations. In a statement, Hamas condemned the strike and said Israel denounced the remaining hostages in Gaza for “unknown fate” and called it “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement.”

In a statement, Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that Israel's goal was to “destroy Hamas,” expressing hope that the new attack would evolve into an operation “completely different from what has been done so far.”

However, in an official statement announcing the resumption of heavy military action, the Israeli government was more cautious. It avoided mentioning how long the surgery would last, or whether it would include the kind of ground invasion needed to force Hamas out of power. In the morning, Israeli forces ordered Palestinian civilians to leave two areas near the Israeli-Gaza border, but stopped even without saying they were deploying troops and tanks there.

Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed the report.