Airstrikes across Gaza as Israel vows to target Hamas 'with increasing military force'

Israel's latest airstrikes in Gaza have killed 404 people, the Hamas-run health ministry has said, as the UN's human rights chief branded the violence as "horrifying".

A further 562 people were injured in the airstrikes, which put an end to a fragile ceasefire between Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, and Israel as they resumed overnight.

A statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force".

Evacuation orders have been issued by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for a number of areas in Gaza, after the ceasefire had allowed for hundreds of thousands of displaced people to return to their homes across the enclave.

The IDF said on X people should leave the neighbourhoods of Beit Hanoun, Khuza'a, Abasan al-Kabira and al-Jadida and head to shelters in Gaza City and Khan Younis.

That's despite Gaza City and Khan Younis being among the areas where airstrikes were reported.

Northern Gaza, the Deir al-Balah and Rafah also came under attack.

Many of the dead from the latest strikes were children, according to Palestinian health ministry officials.

The Hamas-run government media office called the attacks a "blatant violation of all international and humanitarian conventions".

In a statement, the Israeli PM's office said Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to "act forcefully" against Hamas.

It came after the militant group "repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators".

"The operational plan was presented late last week by the IDF and approved by the political echelon," the statement added.

There are 59 Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas - 24 of whom are still believed to be alive.

For their release, Hamas wanted the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and an end to hostilities as part of the second phase of the deal.

Hamas, the militant group running Gaza and whose massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 sparked Israel's powerful bombing of the enclave, has claimed it is "working with mediators to curb the aggression" seen on Tuesday.

"Hamas adhered to the ceasefire agreement and implemented it precisely, but the Israeli occupation reneged on its commitment and reversed it by resuming aggression and war," an official said.

More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory campaign since October 2023, Gazan health officials say.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to convene later on Tuesday for a briefing on Gaza.

UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said: "I am horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip.

"This will add tragedy onto tragedy."

'Unilaterally ending the ceasefire'

According to the Reuters news agency, a senior Hamas official said Israel was unilaterally ending the ceasefire agreement.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Fox News interview that the Trump administration was consulted by Israel about the airstrikes on Monday.

'Not a surprise'

The IDF and Shin Bet described the strikes as "extensive" - and said they were against "terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip".

Last week, the Gaza health ministry said nine Palestinians, including three journalists, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern town of Beit Lahia.

A Palestinian source who lives in central Gaza told Sky News' US correspondent Mark Stone that the strikes were "not a surprise", saying: "I guess the strongest ones can do whatever they want."

The source then said "we were sure that this war wouldn't end" and added: "I wish they (Israel) would open the Rafah border crossing (into Egypt). I wish to leave. I cannot take it anymore."

It comes almost two months after a three-phase ceasefire was reached by Hamas and Israel to pause the war.

Over the first phase of the ceasefire, which lasted six weeks, Hamas released 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and five Thai nationals, in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But since the first phase officially concluded, both Israel and Hamas have failed to agree on how to progress with the second phase - which would see the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

'We are shocked'

Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, said Mr Netanyahu's decision to return to war amounts to a "death sentence" for the remaining hostages.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum hit out at the Israeli government's decision to resume airstrikes in Gaza and accused it of backing out of the ceasefire, saying it "chose to give up on the hostages".

"We are shocked, angry and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas," the group said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu's decision to launch fresh airstrikes on the besieged enclave of Gaza comes as he faces mounting pressure at home over his handling of the hostage crisis.

Furthermore, his latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was cancelled after the strikes, which resumed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

US Middle East envoy Mr Witkoff had proposed extending the first phase of the ceasefire through to the end of Ramadan and Passover or until 20 April, which Hamas rejected.

At the start of March, Israel said it stopped all goods and supplies to Gaza after claiming Hamas was refusing to "accept the Witkoff outline for continuing the talks, which Israel agreed to".

Hamas called it "a war crime and a blatant attack".

Five days later, Israel said it had cut off the electricity supply to Gaza.

(c) Sky News 2025: Airstrikes across Gaza as Israel vows to target Hamas 'with increasing military force'