ANKARA
At least 404 Palestinians were killed and 562 others injured in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, breaking a ceasefire that lasted nearly two months, the Health Ministry said.
“Many victims are still under the rubble and efforts are underway to recover them,” the ministry added in a statement.
The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the largest since the ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas took effect on Jan. 19.
The Gaza Government Media Office said entire families were among the victims, who were killed together in the Israeli attacks, noting that ambulances and civil defense teams are unable to bring all victims to hospitals.
💢 Over 322 Palestinians were killed or went missing in five hours as Israel resumed its assault on Gaza, breaking a nearly two-month ceasefire, the Gaza local authorities report https://t.co/FWAkIK9PZg pic.twitter.com/7Z612anS3w
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 18, 2025
"These brutal massacres confirm once again that the Israeli occupation army only knows the language of killing, destruction, and genocide," the statement said.
It added that the resumption of the massacres in Gaza comes along with the ongoing suffocating siege imposed on Gaza and the complete closure of the crossings, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and depriving over 2.4 million Palestinians of basic necessities.
The media office urged the international community, including the UN Security Council and rights groups, to break the state of inaction and immediately act to ensure an end to these massacres in Gaza.
Earlier, the Israeli army said the attacks hit Hamas targets in the Strip "to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon, including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased."
Hamas, for its part, said the Israeli government has declared war on Gaza by breaking the ceasefire agreement.
"We demand that the mediators hold (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement," it said in a statement.
Over 404 Palestinians were killed and 562 others injured within five hours across the Gaza Strip as Israel resumed its genocidal war, breaking the ceasefire ⤵️
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 18, 2025
Ambulances and civil defense teams unable to bring all victims to hospitals, says Gaza Government Media Office… pic.twitter.com/13kUlw4FVa
Despite the ceasefire, local authorities in Gaza had reported almost daily violations by the Israeli army.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 48,500 Palestinians since October 2023, most of them women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
