Israel-Gaza struggle: ‘At least 330 dead’ as Israel launches deadliest strikes since January ceasefire
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 330 Palestinians across Gaza in the deadliest wave of attacks since a ceasefire deal was reached in January, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Strip.
The strikes began at 2.30am local time (00.20 GMT) on Tuesday morning and hit densely populated urban areas, makeshift schools, residential buildings, and shelters housing displaced people in tents. The Israeli military said in a statement: “This preemptive offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes.”
The White House confirmed it was consulted before the attack and suggested Hamas was to blame. Donald Trump’s National Security Council spokesperson, Brian Hughes, said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after weeks of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate an extension of the ceasefire deal reached on 19 January. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement that “Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them”.
In pictures: Palestinians flee as Israeli attacks resume
Fires light up Khan Younis sky as hundreds killed in Israeli airstrike
Fires light up Khan Younis sky as hundreds killed in Israeli airstrike
Palestinians ordered to evacuate as Israel appears to prepare ground invasion
Israel has ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, as it appears to prepare to resume its ground invasion in the Gaza strip.
It comes after a huge wave of Israeli strikes overnight, which health officials in the strip say killed at least 330.
People in the area were ordered on Tuesday to move towards the centre of the territory.
Palestinians in the neighbourhoods of Beit Hanoun, Khuzaʽan, the Large Abasan and the New Abasan – which Israel has marked as “dangerous combat zones” – were ordered to leave the area to shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis.
Death toll in Gaza rises to at least 330 after Israeli strikes
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight has risen to “at least 330”, health officials in Gaza have said.
Mohammed Zaqut, the head of Gaza’s health ministry, says most of the dead are women and children. Eyewitnesses also recalled seeing children.
Hundreds more are wounded with “dozens” in critical condition, Mr Zaqut added.
Populated areas in the strip were targeted, including residential buildings and makeshift schools.
Israeli airstrikes kill 17 members of a single family in Rafah
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza early on Tuesday killed 17 members of the same family in Rafah, including at least 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital.
Among the dead were five children, their parents, and another father with his three children, the Associated Press reported.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Gaza City resident Nidal Alzaanin told the news agency.
“Everyone is still suffering from the previous months.”
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip says at least 254 people were killed and 440 wounded in the strikes across Gaza.
Officials said rescue teams were still searching for bodies trapped under the rubble.
Panic and chaos grip Gaza Strip as Israeli airstrikes shatter fragile truce
Panic and chaos gripped the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes pounded the enclave, with the local health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip saying at least 254 Palestinians were killed.
Residents were forced to flee and wounded were rushed to hospitals. Many of the injured were seen wrapped in bloodstained blankets or with bandaged limbs.
Flames engulfed damaged buildings as firefighters battled the blazes and video footage showed bodies laid out on the floor of a hospital.
Among the killed were women and children, hospital officials said.
A volunteer doctor at Al-Ahli Hospital told CNN: “I just was taking care of a seven-year-old boy who was gasping and taking his final breaths and begging me to try to save him, because they’re telling me that his entire family was killed. Multiple siblings, parents. But the majority of cases that we’ve seen tonight are children.”
Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza rises to 254
The death toll from the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza this morning has risen to 254, according to hospital officials in the Strip.
The strikes were ordered by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after consulting the Trump administration.
The strikes targeted densely populated urban areas, makeshift schools, residential buildings, and shelters housing displaced people in tents.
Several eyewitnesses said that women and children were among the dead. Many were seen with the remains of children.
Israeli strikes target makeshift schools and shelters
The Israeli strikes overnight targeted densely populated urban areas, makeshift schools, residential buildings, and shelters housing displaced people in tents.
The death toll is expected to rise, with Al Jazeera reporting that at least 308 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes so far.
Medical sources told the outlet that Tuesday’s attacks killed at least 77 people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and at least 20 in Gaza City in the north.
Israeli airstrikes also targeted areas in central Deir el-Balah and Rafah in the south.
Dr Razan Al-Nahhas, a volunteer physician at Al-Ahli Hospital, described the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza as “absolutely horrific” and told CNN that heavily wounded patients and bodies, including children, are piling up.
“It’s been absolutely horrific. Nothing close to anything I’ve experienced before… Multiple explosions within just a span of a few minutes back-to-back.”
Israel’s ambassador to UN says strikes will continue on Gaza
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on X: “The Security Council will convene tomorrow to discuss the situation in Gaza. It is time for the countries of the world to take seriously our unwavering commitment to bring back all our hostages home and defeat the enemy.”
He added: “Nothing will stop us from fighting to free our hostages who have been held in brutal Hamas captivity for 527 days. We will show no mercy against our enemies while our hostages languish in Hamas terror tunnels.”
Netanyahu accuses Hamas of ‘repeated refusal to release hostages’ as airstrikes kill more than 200 in Gaza
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of “repeated refusal to release our hostages” and rejecting proposals from US president Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Hamas hit out at the Isreali leader “and his extremist government” for overturning the 19 January ceasefire and “exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate”.
Source: independent.co.uk
