Evening Edition: Israel Breaks Ceasefire As Hamas Refuses To Release Hostages
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I'm Trey Gowdy. I'm Martha McCallum. I'm Ben Domenech, and this is the Fox News Rundown. Tuesday, March 18th, 2025. I'm John Saucier. It was a deadly surprise at around 2 a.m. local time Tuesday in Gaza when Israeli airstrikes again rocked that war-torn region. There's been a ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas since January, but in an instant, it's suddenly gone.

But why? The Israelis say this was due to the fact that Hamas would not agree to a deal that would see the remaining 59 hostages freed from Hamas captivity. 24 of them are believed to be alive. This is the Fox News Rundown, Evening Edition. ♪

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Israel's again going after Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip as this war came to a sudden resumption. Not only is Israel using military strikes, but they're also cutting off humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza. Israeli government spokesperson David Mentzer says this is because a lot of it went towards funding Hamas. Enabling Hamas

the enemy to resupply itself so it can regroup and re-attack us as our intel has very clearly shown that is not humanitarian it is suicidal and we will not allow it the desperate situation on both sides is back on and ending this conflict is going to be very tricky and likely very bloody this was very unexpected our guest today is chief foreign correspondent for fox news channel trey yinks reporting from tel aviv israel

After nearly two months of ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli Air Force started bombing the Gaza Strip, targeting major population centers overnight like Gaza City and Arafa and Han Yunis. And the Israelis say this was due to the fact that Hamas would not agree to a deal that would see the remaining 59 hostages freed from Hamas captivity. 24 of them are believed to be alive. So a series of strikes took place.

The Israelis say that a number of Hamas officials were killed in those strikes, along with the top spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Palestinian media reports that hundreds of people were killed in these strikes. We can't independently confirm those numbers, but videos that we've reviewed from hospitals inside Gaza show dozens of bodies piled up as a result of the Israeli air campaign against Gaza, many of them civilians.

I want to talk about the humanitarian aid because I think that's part of this story as well, because Israel says they're going to be cutting off humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. They believe that Hamas is actually stealing that aid and using it. Can you give a little comment about what you're hearing on that front? Yeah, a lot of the concern about Hamas stealing aid as a reason to stop the flow of aid into Gaza is spin by the Israelis. Hamas certainly in the past has stolen aid. We have seen videos of their gunmen on top of aid trucks.

but remember there are more than two million people inside gaza and the vast majority are not members of hamas fighting this war against israel it is a civilian population that is more than 50 children and so there are people in gaza in desperate need of aid and support and in an effort to pressure hamas at the negotiating table the israelis stopped the flow of aid into gaza

What we have seen since is a pretty stable situation but no movement at the negotiating table. Remember the key objective for the Israelis is getting their hostages out and then they say defeating and destroying Hamas. The first goal is certainly easier than the second.

But Hamas doesn't want to give up the only leverage that they have left because they are concerned that they'll be completely destroyed afterwards. And to an extent, they're right, because American officials and Israeli officials have been very clear that the future of Gaza must exist only without Hamas in control. And the group has not accepted that reality. And that's part of the reason that the two sides are back to war.

And earlier today, the Israelis released new evacuation orders for Palestinian civilians that are living in areas of Gaza that are close to the border. This is an indication that Israel may add a ground component to this war. And Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the country tonight, saying this is just the beginning. Reports in local media here in Israel say that the Israelis are telling Hamas that if any of the hostages are harmed as the war renews,

that they will annex territory inside the Gaza Strip. And so there's a lot of moving parts here. There are still efforts, we understand, by regional negotiators like the Egyptians to try to get together some sort of agreement to at least stop the Israeli air campaign against Gaza and get some of the hostages freed. But the past two months have seen

Many hostages released from Gaza, but no progress in phase two of this broader agreement. And phase two is critical because that's where the remaining living hostages are supposed to be released from Gaza. And then a reconstruction project would be presented to the Palestinians.

for a future of the enclave that would not have Hamas in control. So it's an incredibly complex situation, and at the core of this situation, you have these hostages that were dragged against their will on the morning of October 7th, 2023, into the Gaza Strip, and you have Palestinian civilians who are caught amid these strikes.

And so there are truly no winners in this situation. And the future is uncertain because you also have this issue of other regional players like the Houthis in Yemen, who earlier today, in response to the resumption of strikes against the Gaza Strip, fired a ballistic missile at Israel, sending missiles.

nearly a quarter million people to bomb shelters in the southern part of this country. Yeah, scary stuff there and a lot of players. What are other regional partners saying about this? Because I've read some statements from Qatar, from Saudi Arabia. They're not happy that Israel is starting to conduct airstrikes again. Yeah, absolutely. The Qataris have issued a statement condemning the Israeli strikes and encouraging...

Israel and Hamas to come back to the negotiating table. And Israeli officials will speak out often against Qatar and their role in this, but they also rely on them heavily when it comes to negotiations because the Egyptians and the Qataris have been the main brokers of these conversations that have been taking place in the region. Of course, now with President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the American negotiating team. And as we move forward, we'll continue to look at the comments from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who

to get an understanding of where Israeli officials are in all of this. At this point, they do not appear to be willing to sit at the negotiating table until they receive commitments from Hamas that this will lead to an agreement and get these hostages out of Hamas captivity.

Things are not good in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes have begun, ending a ceasefire that had been in place since January. But what is Gaza going to look like post-war? We're speaking today with Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yankses in Tel Aviv, Israel, talking about the end of this ceasefire and also what the future might look like in both Israel and Gaza. We'll have much more right after this.

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Thanks to IP. Learn more at phrma.org slash IPWorksWonders. We're speaking with Trey Yinks, Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent. He's in Tel Aviv, Israel right now. And set the scene for me within Israel, Trey, because we've seen a number of people, even protests, come out against this war, trying to get the hostages back. It's really felt desperate at times. Now that hostilities seem to have resumed and the ceasefire, which...

You know, as you mentioned, the second phase had yet to be negotiated and it's clearly breaking down. What are people in Tel Aviv and around Israel, what are the Israelis saying about this? Just the civilians who are wondering when those hostages are going to come back. Yeah, it's a great question. And our senior field producer, Yannat Freeling, has done extensive reporting on this with the families who are currently calling for the ceasefire to go back into effect. These are the families of the hostages that are still held in Gaza.

Because they understand that continued bombardment of Gaza puts the lives of these hostages at risk. Some of the families even showed up to the Gaza border today in protest and walked toward the Gaza Strip trying to send a message to the Israeli government that more war is truly dangerous for these hostages that have spent more than 500 days in Hamas captivity.

And so there is certainly a mixture of feelings here in Israel. You have many of these family members calling for a deal and calling on their government to use restraint as to not put the lives of the hostages in danger. But that is just one portion of the Israeli society. There are many people, especially those in the Likud party, supportive of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who are encouraging the government to increase the bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip.

And we've seen this play out in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with demonstrations every week, many of them against the government, and many of the demonstrations also calling for a deal to take place. This is a country that has experienced an immense amount of trauma. They were attacked on the morning of October 7th, and that led to this 17-month war that still continues today.

But it was the darkest day in Israel's history, and the people here first want the hostages freed from Hamas captivity, but they also don't want to be a country that remains at war indefinitely because fighting Hamas inside Gaza is not free. The Israelis have suffered significant casualties. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed in battles against Hamas inside the Strip.

and if israeli forces go back into gaza to fight hamas on the ground this organization has had two months to prepare again for war and as we saw in many of the videos of these hostages that were being released from gaza and these really horrific exchanges these people were paraded through the streets of gaza and you could see how fearful they were as they were dragged through crowds and then handed over to the red cross

But what we learned from these videos is that Hamas still has thousands of gunmen. They have RPGs, they have IEDs, and they still have some rockets.

And so it will not be an easy battle if the Israelis go back into Gaza. And that is certainly on the minds of the Israeli people and part of the calculation that the government and military has to make as this war resumes. Final thing for you, Trey, you mentioned post-war Gaza. A lot of people have had a lot of different ideas about it, including President Donald Trump. He suggested moving Palestinians out of there so that the Americans can go in and rebuild it and give it back to them. What do Palestinians or the Israelis, either side, think about that idea? Yeah.

Yeah, the president floated this idea of moving Palestinians from Gaza. And initially it was a temporary solution, and then it turned into more of a permanent solution. It was quickly rejected by regional countries like Egypt and Jordan that the president promised would take in Palestinians. Look, the Palestinians don't want to be expelled from Gaza. Many Israelis do support this plan. There used to be Israeli settlements inside the Gaza Strip.

But it appears that that was floated and has since basically fallen to the side because reports indicated that Egypt actually proposed more recently a reconstruction project for Gaza that the Americans were participating in, in some capacity. They were taking part in these talks to try and find a solution that worked for all of the players in the region.

And so as we move forward, it's certainly not the most likely outcome. It is possible, given the fact that this is an administration that often will approach foreign policy in a very different way than the previous Biden administration. But the focus now is on the war that has just resumed. And any talk of reconstruction in Gaza is certainly sidelined at the moment.

just given the fact that the ceasefire has collapsed and airstrikes took place overnight against Hamas and the civilian population of Gaza. Absolutely. Trey Yinks, our chief foreign correspondent for Fox News, reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel. Trey, stay safe and thanks for joining us here on the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition podcast. Thank you.

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