Israel “has no choice but to continue military action” against Hamas to bring back hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said today.

“Israel accepted the proposals of the US presidential envoy Steve Whitcoff to extend the ceasefire, but Hamas rejected them twice,” Sa’ar said in a communication with European diplomatic chief Kaya Callas, according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement.

Condemnation from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Britain

Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, condemned today Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to resume negotiations in order to implement the phases of the ceasefire agreement between the warring parties.

“In the strongest possible terms”, Saudi Arabia also condemned Saudi Arabia Israeli strikes on ‘unarmed civilians’ in Gaza that left more than 400 dead, according to the Hamas health ministry. “Saudi Arabia denounces and condemns in the strongest terms the resumption of aggression by the Israeli occupation forces (…) and their strikes on areas inhabited by unarmed civilians,” the Sunni kingdom’s foreign ministry stressed in a statement.

Russian diplomacy also in turn “strongly” condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, with Moscow saying it is “impossible” to resolve the issue of the hostages’ release “by the use of force.”

For its part, the United Kingdom has called for the ceasefire agreement to be reinstated as soon as possible, with London also expressing concern about “appalling civilian casualties”. “We want to see a return to the ceasefire agreement as soon as possible,” said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Kir Starmers.