(CNN) — Gaza’s fragile ceasefire shattered early Tuesday as Israel carried out deadly strikes across the enclave and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to use “increasing military strength” against Hamas.
The overnight bombardments struck multiple locations across Gaza, killing more than 320 people, according to Palestinian authorities, in the most extensive strikes since a months-long ceasefire came into effect, with Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz declaring: “Tonight we returned to fighting in Gaza.”
The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was already hanging in the balance with phase one ending more than two weeks ago and all sides at loggerheads over a path forward that might see remaining Israeli hostages freed and a permanent peace secured.
Israel’s military and security agency said they were “currently conducting extensive strikes” on Hamas targets in Gaza. In response, Hamas accused Netanyahu of deciding to overturn the ceasefire agreement, and “putting the captives in Gaza at risk of an unknown fate.”
At least 326 people have been killed and more than 440 wounded in the new wave of Israeli strikes, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“It’s been absolutely horrific,” said Dr. Razan Al-Nahhas, a physician volunteering with the Humanity Auxilium organization at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. “Multiple explosions within just a span of a few minutes back-to-back.”
The Civil Defense in Gaza said a number of people were “trapped under the rubble of homes that were bombed in various areas” of the enclave. CNN stringers in Gaza reported the sounds of strikes in multiple locations, including Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
Videos obtained by CNN showed scenes of panic and chaos across Gaza as families desperately rushed wounded loved ones to overwhelmed hospitals and rescue workers transported patients in ambulances or on stretchers.
Many of the wounded were covered with bloodstained blankets, while others had their limbs wrapped in bloodied bandages.
The images showed several young children killed by the strikes.
Deaths and injuries, including of children, have been reported at hospitals ranging from the northern end of the strip to its southern tip more than 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, including Al-Awda Hospital in Tal Al-Zaatar, northern Gaza; Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza; and Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Several hospitals said the casualties were due to civilian homes being hit by the strikes.
Later on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it launched a “massive offensive” in Gaza and ordered civilians in multiple neighborhoods to evacuate, raising fears of further mass displacement.
‘They keep bringing more bodies’
In Gaza City, the volunteer doctor said the strikes began at around 2 a.m. local time and the Al-Ahli clinic had been receiving patients non-stop. Most of the casualties were children, she said.
“Babies, children all over the floor, bleeding from their heads, bleeding from their abdomens. Extremity injuries,” Al-Nahhas told CNN.
“I just was taking care of a 7-year-old boy who was gasping and taking his final breaths and begging me to try to save him, because they’re telling me that his entire family was killed. Multiple siblings, parents. But the majority of cases that we’ve seen tonight are children.”
From a balcony in one of the hospital buildings, Al-Nahhas said she “can see all the bodies of the people that have been killed lined up,” saying at least 50 of them were “just wrapped in blankets” because there was no morgue.
“They keep bringing more bodies,” she said. “It’s really hard to tell the numbers right now because there are just patients everywhere on the floor and the stretchers in the hallways.”
It is a similar picture across the enclave. Israeli strikes have dealt a blow to “an exhausted healthcare system suffering from a shortage of medications and a severe lack of medical equipment,” the head of the enclave’s biggest hospital said.
“Operating rooms are completely full, and the wounded are dying without finding a bed for treatment,” Muhammad Abu Salmiya, of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said in a post on X.
‘As long as necessary’
Israel’s resumption of strikes comes as renewed violence flares up in the Middle East.
Dozens of people were reported killed after US President Donald Trump ordered “decisive” military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, opening a new salvo against the Iran-backed group that has targeted shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, deadly cross-border attacks have underscored escalating tensions between Lebanon and Syria’s new Islamist-led government.
Israel had notified the Trump administration ahead of its strikes on Gaza, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay,” she told Fox News in an interview.
The Israeli military has continued to operate inside Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on January 19, but Tuesday’s airstrikes are the clearest sign that efforts to extend the truce have collapsed.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz ordered the operation, accusing Hamas of “repeatedly” refusing to release hostages and rejecting all offers from United States presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is currently attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving the war goals as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all our hostages — living and dead,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Israel has blocked the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza for the past two weeks, in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and impose new conditions on the extension of the truce. Israel also cut electricity to the last facility in Gaza that was still receiving power, intensifying the enclave’s existing water crisis and severely impacting desalination efforts, local officials said.
The return of thousands of trucks carrying food, hygiene supplies and other necessities during the pause in fighting had somewhat alleviated dire humanitarian conditions that have gripped Gaza. A return to the 17-month war that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians would “lead to an immense tragedy,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said last month.
The Israeli strikes come days after the US put forward a new proposal that would secure the release of a handful of living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a month-long extension of the ceasefire.
Under the US proposal, Israel would also lift its blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a source familiar with the negotiations said.
Hamas said Friday it had responded to a proposal to extend the truce, “which included its approval” to release American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals held hostage in Gaza.
But on Tuesday, Hamas leader Ezzat al-Rishq said the new airstrikes were a “death sentence” for the remaining Israeli hostages held in the enclave.
In total, 251 people were kidnapped from Israel in the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Of the nearly 60 hostages remaining in Gaza, fewer than half are believed to be alive.
An Israeli official claimed the extensive attack in Gaza Tuesday was “preemptive” and said the strikes would “continue as long as necessary and will expand beyond airstrikes.”
The official declined to provide any details about what they claimed was Hamas’ “readiness to execute terror attacks, build up force and re-arm,” but said the strikes were targeting the group’s “mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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