Israel warns more to come as airstrikes kill over 400 in Gaza after two months of truce

Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people on Tuesday, Palestinian health authorities said, shattering nearly two months of relative calm since a ceasefire began, as Israel warned the onslaught was “just the beginning.”
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas accused each other of breaching the truce. It had broadly held since January and offered respite from war for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble.

Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension.
Netanyahu called on Gazans to get out of harm’s way and move to safer areas, blaming every civilian casualty on Hamas.

EVACUATION ORDERS

Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire deal along with the U.S., condemned the Israeli assault, while the European Union said in a statement it deplored the breakdown of the ceasefire.
The U.N. emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the “modest gains” made during the ceasefire had been destroyed.
Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza for more than two weeks, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.

However, Dorothy Shea, acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the blame for the resumption of Gaza hostilities “lies solely with Hamas” and expressed support for Israel in its next steps.

“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.

BODIES STACKED UP

Former hostages and the families of some still held in Gaza expressed outrage over the resumption of war.

Released hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were slain in captivity, said on Facebook that Israel’s return to fighting brought him back to Gaza, where he feared for his life. “Military pressure endangers hostages, an agreement brings them back,” he said

In Gaza, witnesses told Reuters Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the south. Bewildered children sat next to bags of belongings, ready to flee.

In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood were stacked up as casualties were brought in. The health ministry said many of the dead were children, and 562 people were wounded.

Among the Hamas officials killed in the airstrikes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister, and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the head of the Hamas-run security services, Hamas said.

As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have pressed on with an operation in the occupied West Bank and Israeli jets have struck targets in southern Lebanon and Syria in recent days.

TRUCE STANDOFF

Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais released in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining hostages in exchange for a truce until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.

On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters the group was still in touch with mediators, and it was keen to complete the implementation of the original deal.

Qanoua said the group remained committed to proceeding with the ceasefire agreement as signed, accusing Israel of turning against the deal by refusing to begin talks on the second phase and by suspending the entry of aid and goods into Gaza.

The war erupted after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-conducts-strikes-hamas-targets-gaza-army-says-2025-03-18/