Fears of return to war in Gaza as hundreds killed in Israeli strikes

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Israel launched new strikes on the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday after ceasefire talks with Hamas stalled, killing more than 400 people and sparking fears of a return to all-out war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office said it had instructed the military to strike Hamas across Gaza, blaming the group for refusing to release hostages and rejecting all offers from the US envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators. The US said it knew about the strikes in advance. In a post on Telegram, the Israeli army said it was “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip”. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the Prime Minister's office said. Sources told The National that Israeli negotiators had informed their Egyptian counterparts that Hamas was rearming , a claim the group strongly denied on Tuesday evening. "The occupation’s claims that the resistance had made preparations to attack its troops are baseless and false pretexts to justify its return to the war and escalation of its bloody aggression," the group said in a statement. The first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 1, but neither side made serious violations of its conditions until Monday. Hamas said it had "remained committed to the agreement until the very last moment, and was keen on ensuring its continuation", in a statement on Tuesday evening. It also accused Mr Netanyahu of continuing the war for his own political gain. Two senior officials working with Gaza's Interior Ministry were among the fatalities. The ministry said in a statement that its undersecretary Maj Gen Mahmoud Abu Watfa, 58, and director general of the internal security service Maj Gen Bahjat Abu Sultan, 56, were killed in one of the strikes. The strikes come after nearly two months after a ceasefire was agreed on to pause the 17-month war. Under the terms of the truce, dozens of hostages were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees. Ceasefire negotiations in Egypt were at a standstill on Monday, with neither side willing to make the compromises needed to reach a deal, sources told The National . Following Tuesday's strikes, Hamas blamed Israel and Mr Netanyahu for breaking the ceasefire. “Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” the group said, demanding that mediators and the international community hold Israel responsible. “Netanyahu not only prevented food and medicine from entering Gaza, but also bombed and killed children in their sleep. The enemy will not achieve through war and destruction what it failed to achieve through negotiations.” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said “the gates of hell will open in Gaza” if hostages are not released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he added. The strikes also come after Israel carried out attacks in Deraa, Syria . Two civilians were killed and 19 injured in the air strikes, Syrian state media reported. The Israeli army confirmed the attacks, which were the latest on Syria's military infrastructure. It said it struck military headquarters and sites containing weapons and equipment. Hamas also criticised the US administration's "unlimited political and military support" for Israel's deadly wave of air strikes in Gaza. The administration of President Donald Trump was consulted on Monday by Israel about the strikes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. "With its unlimited political and military support for the occupation [Israel], Washington bears full responsibility for the massacres and the killing of women and children in Gaza," the group said. The strikes have drawn condemnation from UN officials and regional countries. The UAE condemned the attack in the strongest terms and said it constitutes a breach of the ceasefire agreement reached in January, Wam reported on Tuesday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of the consequences of any military escalation which threatens to cause further loss of innocent life and exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Stephane Dujarric, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesman, said he was "shocked by the Israeli strikes, in which a meaningful number of civilians have been killed". Another UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said Mr Guterres "strongly appeals for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be re-established and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally". UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified" by the strikes. "Israel's resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions." Egypt called the strikes a "flagrant violation" of the ceasefire that took effect on January 19. The attacks constitute a "dangerous escalation which threatens to bring serious consequences for the stability of the region", said the Foreign Ministry, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside Qatar and the US. It called for giving the mediators the chance to continue efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire in the enclave. Jordan, meanwhile, has been following "since last night Israel's aggressive and barbaric bombing of the Gaza Strip", government spokesman Mohammed Momani said, underlining "the need to stop this aggression". Turkey said the strikes are "a new phase" in Israel's "genocide policy", saying the Netanyahu government has defied humanity through its breach of international law. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the strikes a "continuation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territories and accused the US of "direct responsibility" in the attack. Read next : Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations in Egypt at a stalemate

Fears of return to war in Gaza as hundreds killed in Israeli strikes

Hamas says it was 'committed' to ceasefire until the bombings, which killed mainly women and children