Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed at least 200 people, Palestinian health officials said, after dozens of targets in the enclave were hit early on Monday, ending a weeks-long standoff over extending a ceasefire that halted fighting in January, Reuters reported.
Striking was reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the areas of Deir al-Bala, Khan Yunis and Rafah in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian health ministry officials said many of the dead were children.
The Israeli military, which said it had hit dozens of targets, said that The strikes will continue for as long as necessary and will not be limited to air strikes, meaning it is possible that Israeli ground forces could resume hostilities, Reuters notes.
The attacks were much larger than the regular series of drone strikes that the Israeli military said it carried out against individuals or small groups of suspected militants. They followed weeks of failed efforts to reach an agreement to extend a truce agreed on January 19.
Hospitals in the enclave, battered by 15 months of bombing, were littered with bodies in blood-stained white plastic bags as casualties from Israeli attacks began to arrive.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams had transported 86 dead and 134 wounded, but others were brought to the overcrowded hospitals in private vehicles.
Staff at Nasr Hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza and Al-Ali Hospital in Gaza City said they had received a total of about 85 casualties. Separately, authorities said 16 members of a family were killed in the city of Rafah.
A spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll was at least 200.
„Hamas“ said Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement, leaving the fate of 59 hostages still held in Gaza unclear.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused „Hamas“ of „repeatedly refusing to release our hostages“ and rejecting the proposals of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
„From now on, Israel will act against „Hamas“ "with increasing military force," the office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a White House spokesman said Israel consulted with the US administration before carrying out the strikes, which the military said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leaders, as well as infrastructure belonging to the militant group.
"Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire, but instead chose to refuse and go to war," White House spokesman Brian Hughes said.
In Gaza, witnesses contacted by Reuters said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing many families who had returned to their homes after the ceasefire began to flee again. and head north to Khan Yunis.