The United Nations has said Israeli airstrikes on Gaza are “unconscionable.”
Overnight, Israel launched its biggest wave of airstrikes on Gaza since January 19, when the ceasefire began. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said at least 330 people were killed in the strikes.
Israel has claimed it was targeting what it called “terror targets” belonging to Hamas, and said the strikes follow “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages.”
Hamas has accused Israel of going back on the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, and has said Israel is exposing the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza to “an unknown fate”.
The attacks have been condemned by the UN. In a statement, the organisation’s humanitarian coordinator for occupied Palestinian territory, Muhannad Hadi, labelled the airstrikes as “unconscionable” and called for an immediate restoration of the ceasefire.
“This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately. People in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering,” he said.
“An end to hostilities, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of the hostages and the restoration of basic services and people’s livelihoods, are the only way forward.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued evacuation orders for a number of areas in Gaza, suggesting the army is planning a major ground offensive on the region.
It is widely reported that many of the injured and dead from the airstrikes are women and children.
Dr Feroze Sidhwa, who is working at the Nasser Medical Complex in Deir Al Balah, told Sky News that most of the people he had seen who were killed were women and children.
He told the broadcaster: “I did six operations overnight. Half of them were small children, probably six and below, I wasn’t exactly sure. Most of them are going to die, unfortunately.”
An Israeli official told CBS that the government had given the White House notice before launching the strikes, which Washington has confirmed.
In a statement, the Trump administration blamed Hamas for the ceasefire breaking down. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war”.
Hamas has called on mediators and the United Nations to intervene, and has not declared that it is resuming the war.
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