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Hundreds reported dead in Gaza as Israel launches widespread strikes Hundreds reported dead in Gaza as Israel launches widespread strikes
(about 1 hour later)
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office threatens more attacks on Hamas, blaming its refusal to release hostages for IDF strikes that Gaza health ministry says have killed at least 200Benjamin Netanyahu’s office threatens more attacks on Hamas, blaming its refusal to release hostages for IDF strikes that Gaza health ministry says have killed at least 200
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed at least 200 people, Palestinian health authorities said, as attacks hit dozens of targets early on Tuesday, ending a weeks-long standoff over extending the ceasefire that halted fighting in January. More than 200 people have been killed and hundreds more injured as Israeli military forces hit dozens of targets across Gaza early on Tuesday, effectively ending the increasingly shaky ceasefire that had halted violence in the devastated Palestinian territory since mid January.
Strikes were reported at sites including northern Gaza and Gaza City as well as Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian health ministry officials said many of the dead were children. Palestinian health authorities reported a total of 235 deaths and 300 injured by 7am local time, five hours after the strikes began.
The Israeli military, which said it hit dozens of targets, said the strikes would continue for as long as necessary and would extend beyond airstrikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting. Israeli attacks were reported in northern Gaza, in Gaza City as well as in the central cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. One strike was reported to have killed 17 members of a family in the southern town of Rafah. Another, in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, resulted in the deaths of 13.
Hamas said Israel had overturned the ceasefire agreement, leaving the fate of 59 hostages still held in Gaza uncertain. Casualties included senior Hamas officials, including political leaders and ministers, as well as many women and children, according to medics and Palestinian officials in Gaza.
The attacks were far wider in scale than the regular series of drone strikes the Israeli military has said it has conducted against individuals or small groups of suspected militants and follows weeks of failed efforts to agree an extension to the truce agreed on 19 January. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) said the new air offensive would continue for as long as necessary and could extend beyond airstrikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting.
Khalil Degran, a spokesperson for the health ministry based at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza, said at least 200 people had been killed. Civil defence teams in Gaza said they were overwhelmed. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams dealt with 86 killed and 134 wounded, but others were brought to hospitals by private cars.
In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets could be seen stacked up as casualties were brought in. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams dealt with 86 killed and 134 wounded, but others were brought to hospitals by private cars. Officials from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza and Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, which have all been extensively damaged in the war, said that altogether they had received about 85 dead. Witnesses reported bloody scenes with “body parts, corpses and the injured filling the floors of the hospitals”.
Officials from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza and Al-Ahly hospital in Gaza City, which have all been extensively damaged in the war, said that altogether they had received about 85 dead. Authorities also reported separately that 16 members of one family in Rafah, in southern Gaza had been killed. Hamas and Israel have accused each other of failing to respect the terms of the January ceasefire agreement. Earlier this month, Israel blocked deliveries of aid from entering Gaza and cut off remaining electricity supplies in a bid to pressure Hamas.
In a statement issued shortly after strikes began, Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas will be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it did not release all remaining hostages it holds.
“Tonight we returned to fighting in Gaza in light of Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages and amid its threats to harm[Israeli] soldiers and Israeli communities. We will not stop fighting until all of the hostages return home and all the war’s aims are achieved,” Katz said.
Announcing the strikes, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of “repeated refusal” to release hostages and of rejecting proposals from Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.Announcing the strikes, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of “repeated refusal” to release hostages and of rejecting proposals from Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” it said in a statement.“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” it said in a statement.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted the US administration before it carried out the strikes, which the military said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership officials as well as infrastructure belonging to the militant group. The first phase of the ceasefire agreed in January saw 25 living Israeli hostages and the remains of eight dead Israelis returned by militant groups in Gaza in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel has refused to move to a scheduled second phase of the ceasefire, which would have seen a total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the release of 59 hostages remaining in Gaza and a definitive end to hostilities. With the backing of the US, Israel has been pushing instead been for the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for further prisoner releases and a 30 to 60 day truce.
Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, said the international community faced “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,” Nunu said.
The strikes come at a tense moment in Israel domestic politics. Netanyahu said on Sunday he would fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, a controversial move which immediately prompted renewed accusations of authoritarianism and plans for major protests on Wednesday.
In his statement about the new strikes, Netanyahu said he had approved the new strikes “over the weekend”, suggesting the decision preceded the announcement of his intention to fire Bar.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted the US administration before it carried out the strikes, which Israeli military officials said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership officials as well as infrastructure belonging to the militant group.
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House spokesperson Brian Hughes said.The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House spokesperson Brian Hughes said.
Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price”. In Gaza, witnesses said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah, forcing many families who had returned to their areas after the ceasefire began to leave their homes and head northward to Khan Younis.
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. Much of Gaza lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on 7 October 2023 when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages.
In Gaza, witnesses contacted by Reuters said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing many families who had returned to their areas after the ceasefire began to leave their homes and head northward to Khan Younis. The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000 people and reduced much of the territory to ruins. Ninety percent of houses are damaged or destroyed, and much of the population is displaced. Roads, hospitals, schools, sanitation systems and much else has been reduced to rubble.
Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators from Egypt and Qatar sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of phase one of the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais returned by militant groups in Gaza in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Among those killed on Tuesday was senior Hamas official Mohammad Al-Jmasi, a member of the political office, and members of his family, including his grandchildren who were in his house in Gaza City when it was hit by an airstrike, Hamas sources and relatives said. In all, at least five senior Hamas officials were killed along with members of their families.
With the backing of the US, Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for a longer-term truce that would have halted fighting until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.
However, Hamas wants to move to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, in accordance with the terms of the original ceasefire agreement. “We demand that the mediators hold Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement,” the group said.
Each side has accused the other of failing to respect the terms of the January ceasefire agreement, and there were multiple incidents during the course of the first phase. But until now, a full return to the fighting had been avoided.
Israel had blocked deliveries of aid from entering Gaza and had threatened on numerous occasions to resume fighting if Hamas did not agree to return the hostages it still holds.
The army did not provide details about the strikes carried out in the early hours of Tuesday but Palestinian health authorities and witnesses contacted by Reuters reported damage in numerous areas of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings.
A building in Gaza City, in the northern end of the strip was hit and at least three houses were hit in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. In addition, the strikes hit targets in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, according to medics and witnesses.
Among those killed was senior Hamas official Mohammad Al-Jmasi, a member of the political office, and members of his family, including his grandchildren who were in his house in Gaza City when it was hit by an airstrike, Hamas sources and relatives said. In all, at least five senior Hamas officials were killed along with members of their families.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on 7 October 2023 when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages into Gaza.
The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000 people and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the territory, including the hospital system.
With Reuters and Associated PressWith Reuters and Associated Press