New Delhi:
At least 220 people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday as the Israeli military conducted “extensive strikes” on Hamas targets after weeks of truce talks stalled, the biggest attack in the war-torn territory since the ceasefire began on January 19.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said the air strikes, which took place during the month of Ramadan, killed “mostly children, women, and the elderly” and injured about 150 others. The explosions were heard in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a post on X this morning, said it was “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip” in accordance with the “political echelon”.
Israel also ordered all schools close to the regions neighbouring Gaza shut.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the strikes were ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
“The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” it posted on X.
Israel would now act with “increased military strength” against Hamas, it said.
Hamas, however, held Mr Netanyahu “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement” and said he had decided to “sacrifice” hostages by resuming war.
“Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them,” a Hamas official said in a statement, adding that the Israeli leader was using the fighting as a political “lifeboat” to distract from internal crises.
The ceasefire breach “exposes the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate”, the group said in a separate statement.
A White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted President Donald Trump’s administration before it carried out the strikes.
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks Stall
The truce talks stalled as Israel wanted to extend the first phase of the three-stage ceasefire agreement, while Hamas said it would resume freeing hostages only under the second phase that was due to begin on March 2.
Israel wanted to extend the first phase until mid-April, saying that any transition to the second phase must include “the total demilitarisation” of Gaza and the removal of Hamas, which has controlled the territory since 2007.
Last week, Hamas said it would release American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and four bodies of the hostages if Israel agreed to begin talks immediately on implementing the second phase of the agreement. Israel, however, accused the group of waging “psychological warfare” on the families of hostages.
The initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire witnessed 33 Israeli hostages, including five bodies, and five Thais freed by Hamas in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. The group has still held about 59 hostages.
The war’s only previous truce took place in November 2023 for a week when Hamas released hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The Gaza war began when Hamas led a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They also captured 251 hostages.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes since then have killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and injured over 1.12 lakh, according to reports.
