Israeli strikes kill over 400 in Gaza, say Palestinians, ceasefire on brink

Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, ending weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.

Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas each accused the other of breaching the truce, which had broadly held since January, offering respite from war for the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, where most buildings have been reduced to rubble.

Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension during faltering talks.

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The strikes hit homes and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the borderline, witnesses said.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted.

"It was a night of hell. It felt like the first days of the war," said Rabiha Jamal, 65, a mother of five from Gaza City.

"We were preparing to have something to eat before starting a new day of fasting when the building shook and explosions began. We thought it was over but war is back," she told Reuters via a chat app.

Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire deal along with the U.S., condemned the Israeli assault. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called for immediate international action to compel Israel to abide by the ceasefire agreement and return to negotiations.

Russia expressed "deep regret" over the latest airstrikes and the U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified".

But the airstrikes earned Netanyahu a political boost at home. Former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who left the government over disagreements about the Gaza ceasefire, is rejoining the coalition after the resumption of Israeli strikes, a statement said, strengthening Netanyahu's government.

Witnesses contacted by Reuters said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Bewildered children sat next to bagged-up belongings, ready to flee north again having returned to Rafah with the ceasefire.

In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood were stacked up as casualties were brought in. The health ministry said many of the dead were children, and 562 people were injured.

Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza for over two weeks, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.

Among the Hamas officials killed in the airstrikes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the head of the Hamas-run security services, Hamas said.

As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have pressed on with an operation in the occupied West Bank and Israeli jets have struck targets in southern Lebanon and Syria in recent days.

Israeli media said Israel was opening shelters in multiple areas in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv to prepare for possible retaliatory attacks.

Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators from Egypt and Qatar sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais released in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

With the backing of the United States, Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining hostages in exchange for a truce until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.

However, Hamas has insisted on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, under the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters the group was still in touch with mediators, and it was keen to complete the implementation of the original deal.

Egyptian mediators were engaged in intense contacts to salvage the ceasefire, two Egyptian security sources said.

Much of Gaza now lies in ruins after the war, which erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave, including the hospital system.