The barrage of airstrikes that thundered the Gaza Strip this week were likely part of an Israeli military effort to eradicate the Iran-backed terror organization Hamas by decapitating its leadership, according to former Chief of Staff for the National Security Council (NSC) Fred Fleitz.

Fleitz, who served at the NSC in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term, told Just The News that the airstrikes, which targeted areas like Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, were strategically targeted to take out Hamas leaders.

“The attacks we saw overnight were directed at killing Hamas officials. I'm hoping it had a significant effect in knocking out their leadership,” he said.

The military operation occurred around 2:30 a.m. local time (00.20 GMT) on Tuesday and has been characterized by Israel as a result of Hamas’ failure to reach further agreements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the organization “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”

Cease-fire halted

According to Palestinian authorities and reported by NBC News and others, more than 400 Palestinians were killed in the attack, though that estimate has not been independently verified. 

This latest action halted a cease-fire agreement that was reached in January by the outgoing Biden administration in concert with the incoming Trump administration. The phased cease fire placed priority on freeing all of the hostages abducted by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Growing frustration by the Trump administration compelled the president to issue a final warning on March 6, tweeting: “Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.” 

“I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job…This is your last warning,” he continued. Of the coordination that Israel now enjoys with the United States, Fleitz said “when Israel attacked Hamas in the past, it didn't trust the United States because the Biden administration would leak any details of these operations. Now, we have full cooperation with the U.S. and Israel against this serious terrorist threat that puts more pressure on Hamas and its supporters.”

That frustration of the Trump administration was reiterated on Friday by Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. After traveling to Doha, Qatar along with the National Security Council’s senior director for the Middle East, Eric Trager, negotiations broke down as a result of Hamas’ “impractical” demands. “President Trump has made it clear that Hamas will either release hostages immediately, or pay a severe price,” he said.

Hamas still holding at many as 59 hostages

The goal of the gathering was to extend the cease-fire beyond Ramadan and Passover through a “bridge” proposal which included the release of remaining living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. However, as reported by The Times of Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told AIPAC’s board of directors Tuesday that “US special envoy Steve Witkoff made two different proposals and Hamas rejected both of them.” “We found ourselves at a dead end, with no hostages released and no military action. This is a situation that cannot continue.”

Hamas may still be holding 59 hostages, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, without citing its sources. Up to 24, including one American, are still believed to be alive.

Adi Alexander, father to American hostage Aden Alexander, spoke to Just The News about the recent developments and revealed his concerns about the strike’s implications.

“The fear is that this action will continue and negotiations will be stalled, and we will be back to where we started at the beginning…everybody's in limbo, and we had a last resort, which is military action,” he said.

In the midst of multiple regional conflicts, the United States has new and unconventional leverage from an unlikely source: Russia. After an hours-long phone call between Trump and Putin to further discuss the latter’s conflict with Ukraine, the duo “discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel."