Israel is making one thing unmistakably clear: the war against Hamas will not end simply because another agreement has been announced.

Fresh Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, according to Palestinian authorities, just days after the announcement of a U.S.-backed plan calling for Hamas to disarm.

Israeli officials have said military operations will continue until Hamas fully gives up its weapons, underscoring the enormous obstacle facing any effort to bring the conflict to a lasting close.

The latest strikes came Aug. 1, when Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces targeted medicine warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said two of the hospital's four medicine warehouses were completely destroyed, while the other two sustained severe damage.

Those claims come from Palestinian authorities and have not, in the information provided, been independently established.

But the larger issue remains clear: a disarmament plan means little if Hamas refuses to surrender the capability to wage another war.

Israel's position has been consistent. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other governments, cannot be allowed to retain the weapons, infrastructure and military capacity that enabled the Oct. 7 attack and the conflict that followed.

That puts the burden squarely on the terrorist group.

A U.S.-backed agreement can create a pathway toward peace, but peace requires more than paper. It requires Hamas to actually lay down its arms and give up the machinery of terrorism.

Until then, Israel is signaling that it will continue military operations.

The humanitarian consequences in Gaza are severe, and civilian suffering remains a deeply serious concern. But any lasting settlement must confront the reality that Hamas's continued ability to fight leaves Israel facing the possibility of another attack.

There is no durable peace when a terrorist army is allowed to keep its weapons.

The coming days will show whether the disarmament proposal becomes a genuine turning point—or another diplomatic announcement followed by more violence. For Israel, the standard appears straightforward: Hamas must disarm. Until it does, the war is not over.