What happened to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire – and could there be another one?
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seemingly came to an end overnight after Israel launched dozens of air strikes on targets across Gaza.
Palestinian authorities have said more than 400 people are either dead or missing.
The ceasefire agreed back in mid-January had paused fighting after 15 months of war. It also saw both sides agree to the release of Israeli hostages taken during the 7 October attacks back in 2023, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
So what is left of the ceasefire now, and why did Israel choose to strike Hamas?
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Explosive end to Gaza ceasefire
What did the agreed ceasefire look like?
The three-stage deal, brokered by mediators the US, Qatar and Egypt, came into effect on 19 January.
During the first phase, Hamas returned 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli forces also withdrew to buffer zones inside Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to northern Gaza. No further hostage releases were called for under the agreement until the second phase.
Negotiations over this second phase of the deal were meant to begin on the 16th day of phase one – 4 February – and were supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of all remaining hostages.
According to the deal, a third phase would include the return of the bodies of dead hostages and the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction, a mammoth task that will be supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
It had little detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that the ceasefire agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
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What has actually happened?
The first phase of the ceasefire deal officially ended two weeks ago. Israel has since cut off all food, medicine, fuel, electricity and other supplies to Gaza’s population of around two million people, to pressure Hamas to accept a new proposal ahead of a second phase of ceasefire.
The move was widely criticised, with Hamas accusing Israel of trying to cause famine in Gaza, and the head of the UN Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA) warning the territory will experience another hunger crisis if Israel continues to withhold aid.
Israel’s new proposal would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages – the militant group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
It is named the “Witkoff plan”, after US Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff proposed it last week.
The site of a strike in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Mr Witkoff also demanded the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four hostages who died in captivity.
The proposal made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was Hamas’s refusal of this proposal that led to him ordering the strikes on Tuesday.
Unless mediators now step in, Israel’s attack on Gaza could mean a full return to fighting.
Palestinians flee their homes after evacuation orders from Israel’s army. Pics: Reuters
Could a new ceasefire be agreed?
Last week, Israel sent a delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, for more ceasefire talks, and Hamas leaders attended a round of talks in Cairo, but there has been no sign of a breakthrough.
Reacting to the latest strikes, Egypt’s foreign ministry called for all parties to “exercise restraint” and to give mediators space to “complete their efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire”.
Hamas claimed it is “working with mediators to curb the aggression”, adding that it is keen to implement a ceasefire deal.
IDF evacuation plans tell residents to leave Beit Hanoun, Khuza’a, Abasan al-Kabira and al-Jadida
Meanwhile, a statement from the office of Mr Netanyahu said Israel would act against Hamas with “increasing military strength”. It accused Hamas of repeatedly refusing to release hostages.
The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has also issued evacuation orders for a number of areas in Gaza – after the ceasefire agreement allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return to their homes across the region.
The order tells people to leave the neighbourhoods of Beit Hanoun, Khuza’a, Abasan al-Kabira and al-Jadida and head to shelters in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said the order may indicate that an Israeli land force is preparing to enter the area.
“If you’re going to have a major ground offensive, and if it could from all angles, I think they would look to force Gazan civilians into humanitarian zones,” he said.
“That would give the IDF some freedom of operation, freedom of movement, in open areas.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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