By James Mackenzie, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza, killing more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, threatening the complete collapse of a two-month ceasefire as Israel vowed to use more force to free hostages held by Hamas.
The Palestinian militant group, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages seized in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire and jeopardising efforts by mediators to secure a permanent truce.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had told the military to take “strong action” against Hamas in response to the group’s refusal to release the remaining hostages and because of their rejection of ceasefire proposals.
The Israeli military described the attacks as a “preemptive offensive” aimed at thwarting Hamas’ ability to launch attacks against Israel and to rebuild and rearm its forces. It said it targeted “mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure” belonging to Hamas.
The airstrikes also hit homes and tent encampments housing civilians from the north to south of the Gaza Strip and Israeli tanks shelled across the border line into the enclave, witnesses said.
“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.
Netanyahu has vowed to eradicate his old foe Hamas. While the group has been weakened with relentless Israeli bombardment and ground offensives, it is still the dominant force in Gaza.
Among those killed in airstrikes on their homes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the deputy minister of interior and head of the Hamas-run security services, Hamas said.
Egypt, one of the mediators in the ceasefire deal agreed in January, called for restraint and urged all parties to work towards a lasting agreement.
Israel’s intense pressure on Hamas came as tensions flared elsewhere in the Middle East, which has seen the Gaza war spread to Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
Israeli media said Israel was opening shelters in multiple areas in commercial hub Tel Aviv to prepare for possible retaliation from Hamas or Yemen.
BODIES STACKED UP
The airstrikes earned Netanyahu a political boost. 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.
The Gaza attacks were far wider in scale than the regular drone strikes Israel has said it has conducted recently against suspected militants, and follow weeks of failed efforts to agree an extension to the truce agreed on January 19.
Witnesses in Gaza 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. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted. 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.
The Israeli military said its attacks would extend beyond airstrikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting.
As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have pressed on with an operation in the occupied West Bank which the military says is aimed at Iranian-backed militant groups in long-standing refugee camps.
Israeli jets have also struck targets in southern Lebanon and Syria in recent days as the military builds on gains it made during months of fighting against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and during the collapse of the former Syrian regime.
TRUCE STANDOFF
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 longer-term 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 communication with mediators was ongoing, and the group was keen to complete the implementation of the original Gaza ceasefire deal.
Egyptian mediators said they were surprised by the overnight airstrikes as negotiations a day earlier had been calm and they had not been notified, two Egyptian security sources said.
They are now engaged in intense contacts to salvage the ceasefire and return to talks, they 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, and abducting 251 hostages into Gaza.
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.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo, Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan and Clauda Tanios in Dubai and Alex Cornwell in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; Writing by Enas Alashray, James Mackenzie and Michael Georgy; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Aidan Lewis, Ros Russell)
