An unusual number of explosions were heard in the Gaza Strip on Monday after the IDF detonated a large amount of infrastructure in the enclave.

The sound of the explosions was heard throughout the Negev as well as in the central region and Jerusalem. Residents in central Israel reported that their house windows were shaking from the force of the explosions.

However, a new IDF tactic employed during Operation Gideon’s Chariots could explain why residents of Israel are hearing explosions from multiple kilometers away. IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip. Operation ”Gideon’s Chariots” (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

IDF tactics during Operation Gideon’s Chariots

The IDF recently introduced a new tactic involving old armored personnel carriers (APCs) loaded with tons of explosives and operated remotely. These vehicles, known internally as “suicide APCs,” are sent toward designated targets and detonated in a controlled manner to minimize risk to soldiers. Advertisement

According to security sources, each APC carries several tons of explosives. The resulting blasts produce shockwaves that can be heard over large distances, including throughout central Israel.

This method was adopted following the loss of an APC from the Golani Brigade during fighting in Shejaia, a neighborhood in Gaza City. Since then, the tactic has become a standard procedure to clear routes, demolish buildings, and destroy enemy infrastructure without exposing troops to direct danger.

The IDF began its renewed operations in Gaza on May 17 in order to clear Hamas out of Gaza and return the hostages.

Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes early Tuesday (March 18, 2025) breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy.

Israel said it launched the wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether.

Also read: Israel consulted U.S. on its strikes in Gaza: White House

Hamas said Israel’s government was responsible for an “unprovoked escalation” against Palestinians.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said at least 44 people were killed in the airstrikes early Tuesday.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday (March 18) saying it was striking Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether.

“This comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.

Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticised the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.

In Gaza, explosions could be heard at various locations and ambulances were arriving at Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.

The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released roughly three dozen hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Peace talks hits a roadblock

But since the first phase of the ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the nearly 60 remaining hostages and ending the war altogether. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war, and early this month cut off the entry of all food and aid deliveries into the besieged territory to put pressure on Hamas.

The war erupted with Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, cross-border attack, which killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 per cent of Gaza’s population. The territory’s Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.

The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.

But the territory is coping with vast destruction, with no immediate plans to rebuild. A resumption of the war threatens to reverse any progress made in recent weeks toward halting Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

While the ceasefire largely halted the fighting, Israel has left troops in Gaza throughout the past two months and continued to strike targets, claiming that Palestinians were trying to carry out attacks or approaching troops in no-go zones.

A number of strikes earlier Monday killed a total of 10 people, according to Palestinian officials.

Two strikes in central Gaza hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives.

An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.

In Syria, meanwhile, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel.

Strikes in the southern Syrian city of Daraa killed three people and wounded 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers, the Syrian civil defense agency said. It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.

The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.

In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.” Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded.

The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.

Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. The ceasefire’s first phase saw an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.

Several people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to Palestinian sources.

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip said that at least 12 Palestinians had died and around 30 more were injured in the attack in Beit Lahia.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported at least 16 people had been killed while others were seriously injured. According to the report, the victims had gathered to mourn a deceased family.

The information could not be independently verified.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin delivered a statement from the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, highlighting the army’s ongoing humanitarian efforts and condemning Hamas for obstructing aid distribution.

“Right behind me, you can see one of the distribution centers we opened in the last few days,” said Brig.-Gen. Defrin, standing near one of the newly established hubs. “So far, we’ve opened four distribution centers, and we are intending to open more of them.”

According to the spokesperson, the IDF has already delivered over 16,000 food packages directly to Gaza residents, in addition to facilitating the entry of more than 1,000 humanitarian aid trucks into the Strip.

Defrin accused Hamas of deliberately attempting to prevent this aid from reaching civilians. “Hamas is doing its utmost to stop us from doing so. Hamas is spreading rumors, fake news,” he said. “Hamas is trying bluntly and violently to stop the people of Gaza from reaching those distribution centers.”

He urged international audiences and the media not to trust claims originating from Hamas sources. “I urge you not to believe every rumor spread by Hamas. We will investigate each and every one of those incidents and allegations.”

Hamas terrorists shake hands with child as they stand guard as people gather on the day of the handover of hostages, February 22, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed)

Hamas has allegedly told mediators that they are willing to accept any proposal to release Israeli hostages if it includes a resumption of a ceasefire, according to UK-based Qatari news organization Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s report on Thursday.

The Hamas sources also claimed that the terror group did not reject US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s ceasefire-hostage framework but rather accepted it on the condition that it would lead to a resumed ceasefire.

Witkoff, however, reportedly rejected this, surprising Hamas, according to the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Egyptian sources cited by the Qatari-owned news organization indicated that an Israeli delegation visited Cairo for a few hours on Wednesday evening and that a Hamas delegation is likely to arrive later on Thursday in order to discuss developments with Egyptian officials.