A wave of Israeli strikes across Gaza has killed at least 413 people, local health officials said.
Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.
The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
Hamas accused Mr Netanyahu of upending the ceasefire agreement and exposing the hostages “to an unknown fate”. In a statement, it called on mediators to hold Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement”.
The strikes came as Mr Netanyahu comes under mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming.
A young boy sat with a bandage around his head as a health worker checked for more injuries, a young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.
A strike on a home in the southern city of Rafah killed 17 members of one family, including at least 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children, according to hospital records.
Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February.
Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.
Explosions could be heard throughout Gaza. The territory’s civil defence agency said its crews were having a difficult time carrying out rescue efforts because various areas were being targeted simultaneously.
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war”.
US envoy Steve 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”.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks.
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of the ceasefire.
But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.
Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages.
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.
Israel responded with a military offensive that killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 per cent of Gaza’s population.
Mass demonstrations are planned later on Tuesday and Wednesday following Mr Netanyahu’s announcement this week that he wants to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet.
Critics have lambasted the move as an attempt by Mr Netanyahu to divert blame for his government’s failures in the October 7th attack and handling of the war. – AP/Guardian
