Following large-scale airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Israel will likely ramp up military pressure on Hamas to restart negotiations designed to ultimately force Hamas to exit Gaza, but Hamas will resist this pressure, likely returning Gaza to an open-ended conflict that risks further regional escalations. Citing Hamas' refusal to release the remaining Israeli hostages it still holds, the Israeli government ordered airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on March 18, hitting militant sites affiliated with command-and-control, rocket production, launch sites and other locations the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed were part of Hamas and other militants' military infrastructure. The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said up to 400 people were killed in the strikes, which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed would continue and that the ''gates of hell'' would open if the hostages were not released. The IDF has since given evacuation orders along much of the Gaza buffer zone...
