5 months ago
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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes crossed the Gaza Strip aboriginal Tuesday, sidesplitting astatine slightest 326 Palestinians, including women and children, according to infirmary officials. The astonishment bombardment shattered a ceasefire successful spot since January and threatened to afloat reignite the 17-month-old war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes aft Hamas refused Israeli demands to alteration the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the cognition was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced enactment for Israel's actions.
The Israeli subject ordered radical to evacuate eastbound Gaza, including overmuch of the bluish municipality of Beit Hanoun and different communities further south, and caput toward the halfway of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon motorboat renewed crushed operations.
“Israel will, from present on, enactment against Hamas with expanding subject strength,” Netanyahu’s bureau said.
The onslaught during the Muslim beatified period of Ramadan could resume a warfare that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused wide demolition crossed Gaza. It besides raised questions astir the destiny of the astir 2 twelve Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to inactive beryllium alive.
A elder Hamas authoritative said Netanyahu’s determination to instrumentality to warfare amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to effort and prevention his far-right governing conjugation and called connected mediators to “reveal facts” connected who broke the truce.
There were nary reports of immoderate attacks by Hamas respective hours aft the bombardment, indicating it inactive hoped to reconstruct the truce.
The strikes came arsenic Netanyahu comes nether mounting home pressure, with wide protests planned implicit his handling of the hostage situation and his determination to occurrence the caput of Israel's interior information agency. His latest grounds successful a long-running corruption proceedings was canceled aft the strikes.
The main radical representing families of the captives accused the authorities of backing retired of the ceasefire, saying it “chose to springiness up connected the hostages.”
“We are shocked, aggravated and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to instrumentality our loved ones from the unspeakable captivity of Hamas,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said successful a statement.
Wounded watercourse into Gaza hospitals
A onslaught connected a location successful the confederate metropolis of Rafah killed 17 members of 1 family, including astatine slightest 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dormant included 5 children, their parents, and different begetter and his 3 children.
In the confederate metropolis of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded radical to Nasser Hospital, wherever patients laic connected the floor, immoderate screaming. A young miss cried arsenic her bloody limb was bandaged.
Many Palestinians said they had expected a instrumentality to warfare erstwhile talks implicit the 2nd signifier of the ceasefire did not statesman arsenic scheduled successful aboriginal February. Israel alternatively embraced an alternate connection and chopped disconnected each shipments of food, substance and different assistance to the territory's 2 cardinal Palestinians to effort to unit Hamas to judge it.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian nonmigratory Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by telephone from Gaza City. "Everyone is inactive suffering from the erstwhile months,” helium said.
Gaza's Health Ministry said astatine slightest 326 radical were killed successful the strikes and hundreds much wounded. Rescuers were inactive searching the rubble for dormant and wounded arsenic the strikes continued. It was among the deadliest days of the war.
U.S. backs Israel and blames Hamas
The White House sought to blasted Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the militant radical "could person released hostages to widen the ceasefire but alternatively chose refusal and war.”
An Israeli official, speaking connected information of anonymity to sermon the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas' military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to grow the cognition beyond aerial attacks. The authoritative accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and program caller attacks. Hamas militants and information forces rapidly returned to the streets successful caller weeks aft the ceasefire went into effect.
A 2nd Israeli official, who besides spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon a closed-door meeting, said Netanyahu would conscionable with apical information officials to sermon adjacent steps successful the war.
Talks connected a 2nd signifier of the ceasefire had stalled
The strikes came 2 months aft a ceasefire was reached to intermission the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of 8 much successful speech for astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners successful a archetypal signifier of the ceasefire.
But since that ceasefire ended 2 weeks ago, the sides person not been capable to hold connected a mode guardant with a 2nd signifier aimed astatine releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to beryllium dead, and ending the warfare altogether.
Hamas has demanded an extremity to the warfare and afloat withdrawal of Israeli troops successful speech for the merchandise of the remaining hostages. Israel says it volition not extremity the warfare until it destroys Hamas' governing and subject capabilities and frees each hostages — 2 goals that could beryllium incompatible.
Netanyahu's bureau connected Tuesday said Hamas had “repeatedly refused to merchandise our hostages and rejected each offers it received from the U.S. statesmanlike envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”
Israel wants Hamas to merchandise fractional of the remaining hostages successful instrumentality for a committedness to negociate a lasting truce. Hamas alternatively wants to travel the ceasefire woody reached by the 2 sides, which calls for negotiations to statesman connected the ceasefire’s much hard 2nd phase, successful which the remaining hostages would beryllium released and Israeli forces would retreat from Gaza.
A instrumentality to warfare would let Netanyahu to debar the pugnacious trade-offs called for successful the 2nd signifier of the statement and the thorny question of who would govern Gaza. It would besides enactment up his coalition, which depends connected far-right lawmakers who privation to depopulate Gaza and re-build Jewish settlements there.
Gaza already was successful a humanitarian crisis
The warfare erupted erstwhile Hamas-led militants stormed into confederate Israel connected Oct 7, 2023, sidesplitting immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most person been released successful ceasefires oregon different deals, with state forces rescuing lone 8 and recovering dozens of bodies.
Israel responded with a subject violative that killed implicit 48,000 Palestinians, according to section wellness officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population. The territory's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate betwixt civilians and militants, but says implicit fractional of the dormant person been women and children.
The ceasefire had brought immoderate alleviation to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.
Netanyahu faces mounting criticism
The released hostages, immoderate of whom were emaciated, person repeatedly implored the authorities to property up with the ceasefire to instrumentality each remaining captives. Tens of thousands of Israelis person taken portion successful wide demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and instrumentality of each hostages.
Mass demonstrations are planned aboriginal Tuesday and Wednesday pursuing Netanyahu's announcement this week that helium wants to occurrence the caput of Israel's Shin Bet interior information agency. Critics person lambasted the determination arsenic an effort by Netanyahu to divert blasted for his government's failures successful the Oct. 7 onslaught and handling of the war.
Since the ceasefire successful Gaza began successful mid-January, Israeli forces person killed dozens of Palestinians who the subject says approached its troops oregon entered unauthorized areas.
Still, the woody has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. Egypt, Qatar and the United States person been trying to mediate the adjacent steps successful the ceasefire.
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Federman reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Mohammad Jahjouh successful Khan Younis, Gaza Strip; Abdel Kareem Hana successful Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Fatma Khaled successful Cairo; and Tia Goldenberg successful Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.
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Follow AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
