Israeli forces bombarded Gaza on Tuesday, killing hundreds of people and shattering a fragile ceasefire wirh Hamas just under two months after it came into force.
It was believed to be the deadliest single day in Gaza since 2023, with a death toll of more than 400 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
“Israel will fight and Israel will win,” said Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a defiant video address on Tuesday evening. Referring to Israeli hostages held in Gaza he said: “We will bring our people home and we will destroy Hamas.”
Mr Netanyahu said earlier he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected Israeli proposals to secure an extension to the first phase of a ceasefire deal which began in January.
The Israeli prime minister also thanked US president Donald Trump for his support, saying Israel’s alliance with the United States has “never been stronger”.
“We are horrified,” said Claire Magone, director general of Médecins Sans Frontières France. She said the medical charity received 75 people “dead on arrival” and “scores of wounded in just three of the facilities we support”.
The war erupted in October 2023 after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 48,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza health ministry figures, with the UN saying the majority of deaths they verified were women and children.
As a result of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, 25 surviving hostages and the bodies of eight more were released by Hamas, while Israel released about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were being held in Israeli prisons. Fifty-nine Israeli hostages, captured on October 7th, 2023, are believed to still be in Gaza. Israel believes 35 of them are dead.
While Hamas wanted to move to the second stage of the agreement, which envisages an Israeli withdrawal and a permanent end to the war, Israel sought to prolong the first stage.
On March 2nd, Israel announced that it would halt the entry of goods and other supplies to Gaza’s population of roughly 2.1 million people.
This came months after the International Criminal Court issued warrants for both Mr Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including starvation as a method of warfare – charges they reject.
“Palestinians civilians have endured 17 months of relentless hostilities, and after weeks of a total aid blockade they are now left with little food, clean water and medical care. Famine may take hold among families already surviving on scraps,” said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which works in Gaza.
“Israel’s siege, bombardment, and killing of civilians cannot be met with more empty statements ... Without intervention, more lives will be lost and history will record their failure.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned Tuesday’s Israeli air strikes, while saying the “immediate resumption of humanitarian access” to Gaza “at scale” is “not only an obligation under international humanitarian law but a moral imperative.”
He said he would be urging European leaders at this week’s meeting of the European Council to “agree a clear and united EU position aimed at stopping any further escalation.” – Additional reporting: Reuters
