Global actors reacted to intense Israel strikes throughout the Palestinian territory in the early hours of Tuesday that killed at least 330 people and violated a hard-fought ceasefire that halted fighting in January.
“The health ministry has recorded more than 330 deaths, most of them Palestinian women and children, and hundreds of wounded, dozens of them in critical condition,” the head of the ministry, Mohammed Zaqut, told AFP.
Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that the military operation was ongoing and affecting schools and camps sheltering displaced people.
Strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Foreign Ministry
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “urgent international intervention to stop the crime of genocide and the displacement of our people in the Gaza Strip,” it said on X.
Hamas
Hamas said it viewed Israel’s attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire that began on January 19.
“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.
Later, Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement that “Netanyahu’s decision to resume war” was “a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them”.
Israel
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation was open-ended and expected to expand.
“From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force,” it said, adding that the operation was ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved.”
United States
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “the Trump administration and the White House” had been consulted by Israel on the attacks.
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay — all hell will break loose,” she said.
United Nations
UN chief Antonio Guterres is “shocked” by Israel’s renewed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and urged that a ceasefire be respected.
“The secretary-general is shocked by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza… he strongly appeals for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be re-established, and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally,” UN spokesman Rolando Gomez told a media briefing.
Meanwhile, The UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was horrified by Israeli strikes.
“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,” the high commissioner Volker said in a statement.
“Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”
Ben Saul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, said on X: “I condemn Israel’s violations of the Gaza ceasefire by resuming military strikes & starving civilians by denying humanitarian relief.”
The United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory urged for the ceasefire in Gaza to be immediately reinstated.
“Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning … This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement.
Yemen
Yemen’s Houthi rebels condemned on Tuesday Israel’s wave of strikes, vowing to escalate its own operations in support of its ally Hamas after threatening to renew attacks on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea.
“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the Huthis’ supreme political council said in a statement.
“The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps,” it added.
On Tuesday, the Houthis claimed their third attack on American warships in 48 hours in the northern Red Sea.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group accused Israel of “deliberately sabotaging all efforts to reach a ceasefire”.
Egypt
The Egyptian foreign ministry condemned Israel’s overnight air strikes, calling them a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire that took effect on January 19.
The strikes constitute a “dangerous escalation which threatens to have bring serious consequences for the stability of the region”, said the statement from Egypt, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside Qatar and the United States.
Turkiye
Turkiye Israel’s deadly strikes in Gaza as “a new phase” in its “genocide policy”, saying the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied humanity through its breach of international law.
“The massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel’s attacks on Gaza… demonstrates that the Netanyahu government’s genocide policy has entered a new phase,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
China
China said it was “highly concerned about the current situation between Israel and Palestine,” according to foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. She called for the parties to “avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster”.
Russia
The Kremlin said it was concerned by what it called a large number of civilian casualties after Israel struck Gaza and hoped that peace would return.
“Undoubtedly, it’s another deterioration in the situation (in Gaza) and another spiral of escalation that is causing our concern,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Especially concerning of course are the reports of major casualties among the civilian population,” Peskov added. “We are monitoring the situation very closely and, of course, we are waiting for it to return to a peaceful course.
Malaysia
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi expressed his condolences over the passing of eight humanitarian workers from the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations who were killed in the airstrikes in Gaza, The Sun reported.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands called on all parties to respect the terms of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, saying “all civilians must be protected.”
“We urge all parties to implement [the ceasefire] in full: the remaining hostages must be released, humanitarian aid must reach those in need, and all hostilities must end permanently,” Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldcamp said in a post on X.
Australia
“Australia urges all parties to respect the terms of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said on X. “All civilians must be protected.”
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said on X: “We strongly condemn the far-right government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu for resuming its horrific and genocidal attacks on the men, women and children of Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians in a matter of hours.”
Header image: Men walk carrying the shrouded bodies of young victims who were killed in Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 18. — AFP
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