The Israeli military has said that it hit targets across Gaza early on Tuesday, ending a weeks-long standoff over extending the ceasefire that halted fighting in January.
The Palestinian health ministry officials reported that the strikes left no fewer than 100 people dead.
According to the health ministry, strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
The military, which said it hit dozens of targets, added that the strikes would continue for as long as necessary and would extend beyond air strikes.
The military further stated that the attacks were far wider in scale than the regular series of drone strikes 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 January 19.
Hamas accused Israel of overturning the ceasefire agreement, leaving the fate of 59 hostages still held in Gaza uncertain.
Similarly, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement, accused Hamas of repeated refusal to release their 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,” it said.
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.
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 following the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais returned by militant groups in Gaza in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It was gathered that with the backing of the United States, 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 had been insisting on moving 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.
