According to a Gaza health official, at least 70 individuals lost their lives and many others were injured in Israeli airstrikes throughout Gaza, following the resumption of Israel’s bombing campaign on the enclave.
Medics reported that Israeli strikes hit several homes in both northern and southern regions of the Gaza Strip.
No immediate response from Israel was available.
Yesterday, the Israeli military announced that its forces had restarted ground operations in central and southern Gaza after a ceasefire, which had largely held since January, came to an end.
A health official informed Reuters that airstrikes have resulted in 510 fatalities since Tuesday.
The Israeli military stated that its operations aimed to extend Israel’s control over the Netzarim Corridor, which divides Gaza, and were a “focused” maneuver intended to establish a partial buffer zone between the northern and southern areas of the enclave.
The Palestinian militant organization Hamas described the ground operation and incursion into the Netzarim Corridor as a “new and dangerous violation” of the two-month-old ceasefire agreement.
In a statement, the group reaffirmed its commitment to the agreement and urged mediators to “assume their responsibilities.”
A Hamas official told Reuters that mediators had intensified their efforts, though “no breakthrough has yet been made.”
The group has not issued any explicit threats of retaliation.
Israel has intensified its bombardment of Gaza and accelerated its ground operations.
After Israel encouraged civilians to evacuate areas it labeled as “combat zones,” families with young children flooded the roads leading out of northern Gaza.
Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, stated that the renewed strikes disrupted the relative calm experienced over the last two months.
“Now, we can feel the panic in the air… and we can see the pain and devastation on the faces of those we are assisting,” he remarked.
Addressing the “residents of Gaza,” governed by Hamas since 2007, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated in a video: “This is the last warning.”
“Heed the advice of the president of the United States. Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and other options will open up for you – including the chance to leave for other places in the world for those who wish to.”
This was a reference to an earlier warning from US President Donald Trump, who remarked: “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are dead!”
Out of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, 58 remain in the hands of Gaza militants, with the Israeli military claiming that 34 are dead.
Hamas has indicated a willingness to negotiate and has called on the international community to act to conclude the conflict.
However, a representative from the group dismissed Israeli demands to renegotiate the three-stage agreement reached with Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators.
“Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations, but we insist there is no need for new agreements,” stated Taher al-Nunu.
Discussions have stalled on how to advance the ceasefire after the initial phase came to an end in early March.
Israel and the United States have sought to alter the terms of the agreement by extending the first phase.
Hamas advocates for negotiations regarding the second phase, which aims to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Washington have characterized Hamas’s refusal to extend the first phase as a rejection of releasing additional hostages.
The renewed Israeli airstrikes have resulted in a surge of new casualties being transported to the limited hospitals still operating in Gaza.
A UN Office for Project Services employee was killed and at least five others injured when a UN building in the central city of Deir el-Balah was struck by “explosive ordnance,” the agency reported.
“This was not an accident,” stated UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva, adding that “attacks against humanitarian premises constitute a breach of international law.”
According to the UN chief, at least 280 UN employees have died since the onset of the conflict.
In Jerusalem, thousands of Israeli protesters gathered, blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for resuming airstrikes on Gaza without regard for the safety of the remaining hostages.
“We want him to understand that the most pressing issue is to bring the hostages back,” said 67-year-old Nehama Krysler.
Earlier yesterday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have conducted attacks in solidarity with Palestinians, announced that they fired a missile at Israel, which the military claimed was intercepted.
