Resumption of Gaza Invasion: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Are Ignoring Ceasefire

Editorial

17:07 JST, April 7, 2025

The ceasefire over the Palestinian territory of Gaza is now on the verge of collapse. Israel must immediately halt its attacks and abide by the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military resumed its attacks on Gaza in mid-March. In January, Israel agreed to the truce with the Islamist group Hamas, but the country began military actions again, claiming that Hamas had refused to release more hostages.

Schools and ambulances have been among the targets of the attacks, and many civilians, including paramedics, have been killed. An Asahi Shimbun correspondent who was reporting on the situation from Gaza to Japan was also killed in a missile attack.

The death toll in Gaza since the resumption of Israel’s military operations has exceeded 1,000, bringing the total number of casualties to more than 50,000 since the start of Israel’s invasion of the territory in October 2023. These indiscriminate attacks involving civilians and children can never be tolerated.

Before resuming the invasion, Israel also stopped the delivery of food, medicine and other relief supplies into Gaza from outside the territory by international organizations. There is concern that the humanitarian crisis will become even more serious.

During the 15-month Gaza invasion by the Israeli military, Hamas’ key senior members were killed, and its counterattack capabilities were severely weakened. It can hardly be said that the threat by Hamas was so imminent that Israel had to break the truce to use military force.

Nevertheless, Israel resumed its attacks, apparently because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to stabilize his administration’s base.

The far-right political party, which had left Netanyahu’s administration in protest over the ceasefire agreement, returned to the coalition after the resumption of attacks. As a result, the budget was approved in March, preventing the dissolution of the parliament and a subsequent general election.

One cannot help but think that Netanyahu has prioritized prolonging his administration by taking a hardline approach over achieving peace.

Under the three-phase ceasefire accord, the first stage was due to expire at the beginning of March, and the second stage was to begin. However, Israel has insisted that the first stage be extended and that the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza be postponed, demanding that Hamas release the remaining hostages.

There is a wide gap between the two sides’ arguments. A situation where the fighting continues and the Middle East regresses to chaos before the sides reach a ceasefire agreement must be avoided.

The Gaza ceasefire was brought about by U.S. President Donald Trump’s strong approach to Israel immediately before he took office. However, the Trump administration is fundamentally pro-Israel, and even after the resumption of fighting, it has been avoiding criticism of Israel.

There is no doubt that this stance of the United States is facilitating Israel’s attacks that go beyond the scope of self-defense. The United States should call on Israel to exercise self-restraint and devote its efforts to restoring the ceasefire.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 7, 2025)