A summary of today's developments
Israel’s military said it is continuing its attacks on Gaza, following a series of deadly overnight airstrikes that killed more than 400 Palestinian people, including many women and children, and injured hundreds of others. At least four government officials were killed in the Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza’s government media office. The airstrikes appear to have made the last 24 hours the deadliest for Palestinians in Gaza since the first months of the war in 2023.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the airstrikes on Gaza were “just the beginning”. Speaking in a televised address, Netanyahu said: “We will continue to fight to achieve all of our goals in this war”. He named the release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza and the destruction of Hamas as his goals.
Hamas said the US “bears full responsibility for the massacres” in Gaza, after the White House confirmed Israel had consulted the Trump administration before it carried out the overnight airstrikes.
The deadly Israeli attacks have violated the ceasefire agreement with Hamas that came into effect in late January.
Israel’s military ordered an evacuation of parts of eastern Gaza, hours after launching the strikes. The evacuation orders, which cover the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, suggest that Israeli troops may launch renewed ground operations within hours.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said fresh Israeli strikes that have killed hundreds of Palestinians were not a “one-day attack” and that the military operation in Gaza would continue in the coming days.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” and that Hamas would be hit with a force it has “never seen before” if it did not release all remaining hostages it holds.
Egypt and Qatar, key mediators in the ceasefire deal, heavily condemned the Israeli assault along with many other foreign ministries around the world.
Hamas accused Israel of attacking “defenceless civilians” and urged mediators to hold the Netanyahu administration “fully responsible” for “violating and overturning” the ceasefire.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended two weeks ago but Israel is refusing to implement the scheduled second phase, which envisaged an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a definitive end to the war.
Evacuation orders have been issued by the IDF for a number of areas in Gaza, including Beit Hanoun, Khirbet Khuza’a, Abasan al-Kabira and Abasan al-Jadida.
The UN’s under secretary general Tom Fletcher said: “Overnight our worst fears materialised. Airstrikes resumed across the entire Gaza Strip. Unconfirmed reports of hundreds of people killed ... once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear. Humanitarian workers remain on the ground ... ready to provide life-saving support to survivors and to carry out humanitarian operations. We must be allowed to do so.” Fletcher added since 2 March, Israeli authorities had cut off the entry of all lifesaving supplies - food, medicines, fuel, cooking gas - for 2.1 million people in Gaza and UN requests to collect aid sitting at Kerem Shalom crossing had been rejected.
Protesters in Israel accused Benjamin Netanyahu of ordering the airstrikes that shattered the ceasefire in Gaza to provide “cover” for a campaign to dismantle Israel’s democratic system and to maintain his own grip on power.
Former Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who left the government over disagreements about the ceasefire in Gaza, is rejoining the coalition, a joint party statement said hours after Israel’s deadly airstrikes.
Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of the charity Mercy Corps who have teams on the ground in Gaza, said: “Since early this morning, hundreds of people, most of them women and children, have been killed.
“Hospitals are overwhelmed, struggling with critical shortages of blood and even the most basic medical supplies like gauze and painkillers. Entire families have been wiped out. This renewed suffering after weeks of hope is unconscionable.
“Evacuation orders are forcing already displaced families to flee in desperation. More than 2 million people remain uprooted from their homes, facing yet another wave of displacement with nowhere safe to turn.
“Halted access for humanitarian aid and price increases have left people without sufficient food, water, or shelter, worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
“The world cannot stand by while Gaza becomes a graveyard yet again. A sustained ceasefire is the only solution. All parties must immediately commit to ending this war, releasing all remaining hostages, and engaging in a meaningful process to ensure lasting peace and security for civilians on all sides.”
