Israel launches deadly strikes on Gaza, in breakdown of ceasefire

Israeli forces launched intense aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to Gaza officials, breaking a temporary ceasefire with Hamas and raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military operation following the “repeated refusal” by Hamas to release the hostages remaining in Gaza. “From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement warned.

The attacks followed weeks of fruitless negotiations aimed at extending the fragile ceasefire, which paused 15 months of devastating fighting in the territory. Israel and Hamas were supposed to be holding talks on the truce’s second phase — which would end the war and free more hostages — but had seen little progress.

Netanyahu said in an address Tuesday night that future negotiations with Hamas would be carried out along with Israeli military actions. “From now on, negotiations will only be led under fire.” He added, “This is just the beginning.”

Just before 2:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, the Israeli military announced it was conducting “extensive strikes” on Hamas targets. Hundreds of Palestinians, including children, were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Hamas confirmed the deaths of at least five senior officials in its Gaza leadership. The group accused Israel of deciding to “overturn the ceasefire agreement” and exposing the hostages taken from Israel and being held in Gaza “to an unknown fate.” Hamas, however, did not immediately respond militarily to the attacks.

In Gaza, the intensity of the bombardment recalled the war’s earliest days, when Israel launched a relentless wave of airstrikes in response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the fighting.

“All of Gaza shook,” said Ramez Souri, a resident of Gaza City, in the north, who awoke to the sound of explosions, followed by the rush of ambulances.

The next phase of the ceasefire was supposed to free more hostages taken during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Mediators had hoped the talks would lead to an end to the conflict.

But Israeli leaders said they were unwilling to stop the fighting until the end of Hamas’ rule in the territory. Hamas has said it could compromise on civilian control but showed little inclination to disband its battalions of armed fighters or send leaders into exile.

Daniel B. Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said Tuesday: “Hamas’ insistence on holding on to hostages as leverage, and Netanyahu’s politically driven refusal to proceed with phase two of the ceasefire, which called for an end to the war and the release of all living hostages, led to this escalation.”

“Hurting Hamas militarily and releasing our hostages are not contradictory objectives, they are intertwined,” Netanyahu said in his address, pushing back on criticism from some families of hostages and the Israeli public that his political calculations have endangered the captives and arguing that military action has previously helped lead to the release of hostages.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Israel had consulted the White House before launching the strikes.

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