The Israeli military said they fired towards Hamas targets. The strikes come as ceasefire agreement is in limbo.
At least 50 Palestinians were killed, including several children, and more than 100 injured after Israel launched extensive airstrikes in Gaza early on Tuesday, Palestinian medics reported.
Early Tuesday morning, Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said it instructed the army to strike Hamas across the Gaza strip.
The statement said it was because Hamas repeatedly refused to release hostages and its rejection of the offers it received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators. Israel promised to use ‘increasing military force’.
Hamas condemned the latest raids in a statement, holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the consequences of the latest escalation.
“We hold the criminal Netanyahu fully responsible for the consequences of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, the defenceless civilians and our Palestinian people,” the statement on Telegram said.
Regarding the fate of the hostages, the statement said: “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to violate the ceasefire agreement and expose the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate.”
The strikes come as the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is in a limbo. The first stage of the three-phase deal brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt started mid-January and ended on the first of March.
Negotations on the second phase have not yet been hammered out.
Earlier on Monday, Israel launched attacks towards Gaza, southern Lebanon and southern Syria, killing at least ten people, according to local authorities.
The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
This is a developing story.