Israel hits Gaza with new airstrikes that kill at least 200 after truce talks stall

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched a question of airstrikes crossed the Gaza Strip aboriginal Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets successful its heaviest battle successful the territory since a ceasefire took effect successful January. Palestinian officials reported astatine slightest 200 deaths.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said helium ordered the strikes due to the fact that of a deficiency of advancement successful talks to widen the ceasefire. Officials said the cognition was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced enactment for Israel's actions.

“Israel will, from present on, enactment against Hamas with expanding subject strength,” Netanyahu’s bureau said.

The astonishment onslaught shattered a play of comparative calm during the Muslim beatified period of Ramadan and raised the imaginable of a afloat instrumentality to warring successful a 17-month warfare that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused wide demolition crossed Gaza. It besides raised questions astir the destiny of the astir 2 twelve Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to inactive beryllium alive.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of upending the ceasefire statement and exposing the hostages ”to an chartless fate.” In a statement, it called connected mediators to clasp Israel “fully liable for violating and overturning the agreement.”

In the confederate metropolis of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded radical to Nasser Hospital, wherever patients laic connected the floor, immoderate screaming. A young lad sat with a bandage astir his caput arsenic a wellness idiosyncratic checked for much injuries, a young miss cried arsenic her bloody limb was bandaged.

Many Palestinians said they had expected a instrumentality to warfare erstwhile talks implicit the 2nd signifier of the ceasefire did not statesman arsenic scheduled successful aboriginal February. Israel alternatively embraced an alternate connection and chopped disconnected each shipments of food, substance and different assistance to the territory's 2 cardinal Palestinians to effort to unit Hamas to judge it.

“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian nonmigratory Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by telephone from Gaza City. "Everyone is inactive suffering from the erstwhile months,” helium said.

U.S. backs Israel and blames Hamas

The White House sought to blasted Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the militant radical "could person released hostages to widen the ceasefire but alternatively chose refusal and war.”

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been starring mediation efforts on with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas indispensable merchandise surviving hostages instantly “or wage a terrible price."

An Israeli official, speaking connected information of anonymity to sermon the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas' military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to grow the cognition beyond aerial attacks. The authoritative accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and program caller attacks. Hamas militants and information forces rapidly returned to the streets successful caller weeks aft the ceasefire went into effect.

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hellhole volition unfastened successful Gaza” if the hostages aren't released. “We volition not halt warring until each of our hostages are location and we person achieved each of the warfare goals,” helium said.

Explosions could beryllium heard passim Gaza. Khalil Degran, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry based astatine the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital successful cardinal Gaza, said astatine slightest 200 radical had been killed. The territory's civilian defence bureau said its crews were having a hard clip carrying retired rescue efforts due to the fact that assorted areas were being targeted simultaneously.

Talks connected a 2nd signifier of the ceasefire had stalled

The strikes came 2 months aft a ceasefire was reached to intermission the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of 8 much successful speech for astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners successful a archetypal signifier of the ceasefire.

But since that ceasefire ended 2 weeks ago, the sides person not been capable to hold connected a mode guardant with a 2nd signifier aimed astatine releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to beryllium dead, and ending the warfare altogether.

Hamas has demanded an extremity to the warfare and afloat withdrawal of Israeli troops successful speech for the merchandise of the remaining hostages. Israel says it volition not extremity the warfare until it destroys Hamas' governing and subject capabilities and frees each hostages.

Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war.

“This comes aft Hamas repeatedly refused to merchandise our hostages and rejected each offers it received from the U.S. statesmanlike envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” Netanyahu's bureau said aboriginal Tuesday.

Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The planetary assemblage faces a motivation test: either it allows the instrumentality of the crimes committed by the concern service oregon it enforces a committedness to ending the aggression and warfare against guiltless radical successful Gaza,” helium said.

Gaza already was successful a humanitarian crisis

The warfare erupted erstwhile Hamas-led militants stormed into confederate Israel connected Oct 7, 2023, sidesplitting immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most person been released successful ceasefires oregon different deals, with state forces rescuing lone 8 and recovering dozens of bodies.

Israel responded with a subject violative that killed implicit 48,000 Palestinians, according to section wellness officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population. The territory's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate betwixt civilians and militants, but says implicit fractional of the dormant person been women and children.

The ceasefire had brought immoderate alleviation to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.

A renewed Israeli crushed violative could besides beryllium particularly deadly present that truthful galore Palestinian civilians person returned home. Before the ceasefire, civilians were mostly concentrated successful structure camps meant to supply comparative information from the fighting.

The instrumentality to warring could besides worsen heavy interior fissures wrong Israel implicit the destiny of the remaining hostages. Many of the hostages released by Hamas returned emaciated and malnourished, putting dense unit connected the authorities to widen the ceasefire.

The released hostages person repeatedly implored the authorities to property up with the ceasefire to instrumentality each remaining hostages, and tens of thousands of Israelis person taken portion successful wide demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and instrumentality of each hostages.

Mass demonstrations are planned aboriginal Tuesday and Wednesday pursuing Netanyahu's announcement this week that helium wants to occurrence the caput of Israel's interior information agency, the Shin Bet. Critics person lambasted the determination arsenic an effort by Netanyahu to divert blasted for his government's failures successful the Oct. 7 onslaught and handling of the war.

Since the ceasefire successful Gaza began successful mid-January, Israeli forces person killed dozens of Palestinians who the subject says approached its troops oregon entered unauthorized areas.

Still, the woody has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. Egypt, Qatar and the United States person been trying to mediate the adjacent steps successful the ceasefire.

Israel wants Hamas to merchandise fractional of the remaining hostages successful instrumentality for a committedness to negociate a lasting truce. Hamas alternatively wants to travel the ceasefire woody reached by the 2 sides, which calls for negotiations to statesman connected the ceasefire’s much hard 2nd phase, successful which the remaining hostages would beryllium released and Israeli forces would retreat from Gaza.

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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled successful Cairo contributed.

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