• Evacuation ordered in north and south Gaza
• UN, EU, Egypt and Qatar condemn Tel Aviv’s move
• Pakistan terms ‘horrific act of aggression’ a flagrant violation of ceasefire agreement
• Families of Israeli prisoners outraged over resumption of bombings

GAZA CITY: Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people on Tuesday, in an onslaught that ended eight weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.

Israel and Hamas each accused the other of breaching the truce, which had broadly held since Jan 19, offering respite from bombings for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, where most buildings have been reduced to rubble.

Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so Israeli prisoners it seized in its Oct 7, 2023, raid, accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net­anyahu said earlier he ordered str­ikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension, and pledged to step up military action.

The strikes hit houses and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the border line, witnesses said.

The Hamas-run health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since Oct 2023.

“It was a night of hell. It felt like the first days of the conflict,” said Rabiha Jamal, 65, from Gaza City.

Families in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, and eastern areas of Khan Yunis, in the south, fled their homes, some on foot, others in cars or rickshaws, carrying some of their belongings after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders warning the areas were “dangerous combat zones”.

Condemnation

Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire deal along with the US, condemned the Israeli assault, while the European Union said in a statement it deplored the breakdown of the ceasefire.

“The EU calls on Israel to end its military operations and reiterates its call on Hamas to release all the hostages (prisoners) immediately,” the statement from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and Commissioners Dubravka Suica and Hadja Labib, said.

The UN emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the “modest gains” made during the ceasefire had been destroyed.

Pakistan also strongly condemned Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Gaza. “This horrific act of aggression, in the holy month of Ramazan, is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and marks a dangerous escalation that threatens to destabilise the entire region once again,” the Foreign Office said.

“We urge the international community to play its role to immediately end the violence and resume diplomatic efforts towards an immediate and lasting peace in Gaza and the Middle East,” it added.

Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza for more than two weeks, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.

However, Dorothy Shea, acting US ambassador to the United Nations, said the blame for the resumption of Gaza hostilities “lies solely with Hamas” and expressed support for Israel in its next steps.

Outrage in Israel

Former Israeli prisoners and the families of some still held in Gaza expressed outrage over the resumption of hostilities.

Yarden Bibas, who was released by Hamas last month but whose wife and two young sons were slain in captivity, said on Facebook: “Israel’s decision to return to fighting brings me back to Gaza, to the moments where I heard the sounds of explosions around me and where I feared for my life as I was afraid that the tunnel where I was being held would collapse … Military pressure endangers hostages (prisoners), an agreement brings them back.”

In Gaza, witnesses said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah, in the south. Bewildered children sat next to bagged-up belongings, ready to flee north again having returned to Rafah with the ceasefire.

In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood were stacked up as casualties were brought in. The health ministry said many of the dead were children, and 562 people were wounded.

Among the Hamas officials killed in the air strikes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al Hetta, deputy justice minister, and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the head of the security services.

As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have been pressing on with an operation in the occupied West Bank and its jets striking targets in southern Lebanon and Syria.

Truce standoff

Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Qatar as mediators sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli prisoners and five Thais released in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinians.

Tel Aviv had been pressing for the return of the remaining prisoners in exchange for a truce until after Ramazan and the Jewish Passover holiday next month. However, Hamas has insisted on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the conflict and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, under the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al Qanoua said the group was still in touch with mediators, and it was keen to complete the implementation of the original deal.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2025