Israel launched a “massive strike” against Hamas targets in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians and crushing a two-month ceasefire deal after weeks of disagreement over how to extend the truce.
Health officials at Hamas-controlled enclaves said at least 404 people were killed and 526 were injured in the air attack early Tuesday.
The multi-form ceasefire agreed in January was hanging in threads after Israel, with the support of the Trump administration, attempted to revise the conditions of the second stage, designed to release the remaining hostages in the strip and end forever.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to end the war or withdraw troops from Gaza, saying Israel had launched a strike in response to Hamas' “repetitive refusal to release hostages.” Israel also accused Palestinian extremist groups of rejecting a mediator's proposal to extend the ceasefire.
“From now on, Israel will act against Hamas while increasing its military power,” Netanyahu's office said in a post on social media platform X.
Hamas denounced Israel's actions as “dangerous aggression,” adding that “Netanyahu and his militant government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement and expose Gaza prisoners to unknown fate.”
Israeli officials said they designated “Hamas mid-military commanders, leadership staff and terrorist infrastructure” that targeted the new attack.
Officials added that the campaign will “continue as needed and expand beyond the air,” raising expectations for a new ground invasion of the crushed territory.
Late Tuesday morning, Israeli forces urged residents of several Gaza border regions to take shelter in Gaza and Khan Yunis cities.
Nada Khashan, 29, from southeastern Gaza, said her family is preparing to return to the Mawasi coastal belt, 6 km away.
“We are afraid of travel and we don't know if we'll arrive safely,” she said as the family loaded their belongings into the donkey's cart. “Everyone around us has been ordered to evacuate. That's a very bad feeling. We've already had 7 difficulties avoiding it.”
Palestinian officials say the Israeli attacks killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, spurring a humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 caused a war, killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Netanyahu's far-right allies welcomed the new attack on Gaza, but opposition politicians accused the prime minister of using operations to distract him from a domestic political fire over a plan to plunder Israel's Singh Bett's head of the domestic intelligence reporting agency.
“The front soldier and Gaza hostages are the only cards in his survival game. Netanyahu uses the lives of our citizens and soldiers as they are trembling in fear of us – [Shin Bet] Director,” left Democrat Yair Golan wrote to X.
Tensions have recently flareed throughout the region as US troops are struggling against targets in Houthi in Yemen. US President Donald Trump said he was consulted with Israel ahead of the Gaza strike.
“All people who are trying to terrify Hamas, Hausis, Iran and Israel, as well as the United States, will see the price they pay,” White House news director Karolyn Leavitt told Fox News.
The first six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended on March 1, when Israel involved the return of more than 30 Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of around 1,500 Palestinian prisoners.
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International mediators, including the US, are trying to extend the ceasefire and secure the release of 59 additional hostages held by Hamas.
Israel and the United States have requested the release of 5-11 hostages to extend the ceasefire through the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Passover of the Jewish Festival next month.
Hamas said last week he was willing to release five Israeli prisoners, but said only one of them is thought to be still alive. Israel rejected the offer as an “operation,” but Trump's Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkov said it was “completely unrealistic” and that there had been a deadline set for Hamas to respond more proactively.
Earlier this month, Israel stopped all aid freight in Gaza and cut off the final power line of the enclave. Israeli officials have also threatened to cut water supplies.
Earlier this month, Trump warned Hamas that “Hamas members are not safe,” and that they are “dead” unless the group releases the remaining hostages, adding that they are “sent everything they need to finish the job.”
“There will be hell to release hostages now or pay later!” he said.
After a few weeks of delay, Israel sent a negotiation team to Doha last week for its first consultation after Trump took office after Washington and Hamas stagnated. The meeting is mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Netanyahu insisted that Hamas would not end the war until he vowed to ensure that all Israelites would be returned to the Gaza.
In a statement following the strike, the Hostages and Missing Family Forum, representing Israeli hostage families, said it was “shocked, angry and terrifying,” and could risk their lives by denounce the Netanyahu government “deliberate confusion in the process of returning our loved ones.”
Additional Reports by Felicia Schwartz of Washington
