More than 300 killed in Gaza strip attack by Israel forces

More than 300 people were killed in an Israeli forces attack across the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday.

The attack is the first major strike on the territory since Israel’s cease-fire with Hamas began roughly two months ago.

The Israeli military said on Telegram just before 2:30 am local time that it was “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.” At least 250 Palestinians, including children, were killed in the wave of Israeli strikes, according to the Ministry of Health. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Shortly afterward, Hamas said in a statement that the Israeli government had “resumed their aggression” in the Gaza Strip. Gaza residents reported intense strikes across the territory.

Israel’s strikes followed weeks of fruitless negotiations aimed at extending the truce. At dawn on Tuesday, it was not clear whether the strikes were a brief attempt to force Hamas to compromise or the start of a new phase of war in which it would try to force Hamas from Gaza, once and for all.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Israel had consulted the White House before launching the strikes.

“As President Trump has made clear, Hamas, the Houthis, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay,” Leavitt said on Fox News on Monday night. “All hell will break loose.”

It was unclear whether the attack effectively ended the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that took effect in mid-January. Hamas, in its statement, accused Israel of deciding to “overturn the cease-fire agreement, exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” referring to the remaining hostages seized in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement that he and the defence minister, Israel Katz, had instructed the military to act, citing “repeated refusal” by Hamas to release the hostages and saying the militants had rejected all proposals from Steven Witkoff, the US envoy to the Middle East, and other mediators.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement said.

Abela condemns attack

In a post on X, Prime Minister Robert Abela condemned the “barbarous attacks”.

“On behalf of the Maltese government, I strongly condemn these barbarous attacks. I cannot emphasise enough Malta’s plight for peace, in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond,” Abela said.