At least 404 people have been killed, including many children, as Israel resumes attacks on Gaza.
Israeli warplanes launched a massive assault across the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday morning, killing at least 404 people, including many children, and injuring numerous others.
The death toll is likely to rise as many people remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.
Israel’s attacks have shattered the fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas that began on January 19.
Israeli attacks targeted various areas across the Gaza Strip, from north to south, including Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, Gaza City, Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. Areas that had been designated as safe humanitarian zones, including the al-Mawasi zones, were also attacked.
Israeli military issues forced displacement order
In a statement on X, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered residents of the following areas to “evacuate immediately”, saying their neighbourhoods will become “dangerous combat zones”:
- Beit Hanoon
- Khirbet Khuza’a
- Abasan al-Kabira
- Abasan al-Jadida
Adraee said civilians in these areas should head to shelters in western Gaza City or Khan Younis.
Israel killed more than 170 during the ‘ceasefire’
On January 15, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a three-phase ceasefire deal to halt more than 460 days of the war that has devastated Gaza.
The deal, which took effect on January 19, included a ceasefire to halt the destruction inflicted on Gaza, the release of captives held in Gaza in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and the possibility for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
However, Israel violated the ceasefire numerous times from January 19 to March 17, killing at least 170 people in Gaza, averaging nearly three deaths a day.
Gaza authorities have documented more than 350 violations by Israel, including military incursions, gunfire, air raids, intensified surveillance and the obstruction of aid.
Humanitarian aid halted
The attacks came on top of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
On March 2, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, cutting off food, medicine and fuel.
This raised global condemnation, with European nations warning the blockade could breach international humanitarian law. Humanitarian conditions worsened as aid trucks were stranded outside Gaza, resulting in a rising risk of hunger and malnutrition.
The latest attacks come during the second half of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
More than 60,000 killed, 112,000 wounded
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that at least 48,577 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 112,041 wounded in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. This means one in every 50 people in Gaza has been killed, and one in every 20 has been wounded.
On February 3, the Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, noting that thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble were presumed dead.
During the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, 1,139 people died and more than 200 were taken captive.
