Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed that Israel had planned to resume the war on the Gaza Strip since the new Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, took office.

He stressed that "Israel had planned to resume the war on the Palestinian Strip since the new Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, assumed his position," that is, on March 6, while negotiations regarding extending the truce were ongoing in Doha.

He added in a statement on his Facebook account, "The new attack on Gaza is gradual and completely different from what was achieved previously," noting that "this attack aims to destroy Hamas and return all prisoners."

"We are more determined than ever to destroy Hamas," he continued.

The Israeli army announced earlier today that it had bombed dozens of targets in the devastated Gaza Strip, stressing that "the strikes will continue as long as necessary and will extend beyond the scope of air raids."

It is noteworthy that negotiations to extend the ceasefire agreement that came into effect in Gaza on January 19th had begun weeks ago through mediators (Egypt, Qatar, and the United States), but they did not lead to an extension of the truce, amid an exchange of accusations between Tel Aviv and Hamas.