The Health Ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza announced on Tuesday morning that Israeli airstrikes overnight have killed at least 413 people.
According to the ministry director, Mohammed Zaqout, the majority of those killed were Palestinian children and women, with hundreds more injured, including dozens in critical condition.
The head of the Hamas government in Gaza was also reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, the Islamist movement announced later on Tuesday.
The previous death toll was reported to be 220 and 330, but the figure has since been updated. This morning, dozens of civilian deaths were reported in Khan Younis, Gaza City and across other areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Red Cross in Gaza, reporting from its headquarters in Geneva, has stated that hospitals in the area are "overwhelmed" with casualties following the bombardments.
A spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted a critical shortage of medicines in Gaza, warning that healthcare workers might soon be unable to treat various medical conditions, not just trauma injuries.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "shocked by the Israeli strikes" on Gaza, a United Nations spokesperson said on Tuesday. "He makes an urgent appeal for the ceasefire to be respected, for humanitarian aid to be restored without hindrance, and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally," a spokesperson said.
A woman consoles a grieving relative beside the body of a victim killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. Israel on March 18 unleashed its most intense strikes on the Gaza Strip since a January ceasefire. Credit: Belga / AFP
Early Tuesday morning, the Israeli military and the Internal Security Agency conducted "extensive attacks" on Hamas "terrorist targets" in Gaza, as announced via Telegram.
These are the largest attacks since the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel took effect on January 19.
On social media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the attacks follow Hamas’ "repeated refusal to release our hostages as well as the refusal of all proposals by American presidential envoy (for the Middle East, ed.) Steve Witkoff and the mediators’ in the negotiations on an extension of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. "From now on, Israel will take action against Hamas with increasing military force."
"Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to torpedo the ceasefire agreement, exposing the hostages in the Gaza Strip to an uncertain fate," Hamas responded.
"Netanyahu has decided to resume his war of extermination, which he sees as a lifeline for the internal crises," says Izzat al-Rishq of the Hamas political bureau. "It is a decision to sacrifice the hostages and a death sentence for them."
Israeli media report that the reason for the strikes is political and linked to a vote in the parliament on the state budget. If the budget is not approved, the Israeli government would have to announce new elections. The government is dependent on the votes of the extremist former national security minister and his party who has been calling for the resumption of the war.
