The Japan Times - Israel strikes on Gaza spark global condemnation

The strikes, by far the deadliest since a truce took effect in January, killed more than 400 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel vowed to continue fighting until all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants were returned, while Hamas, which has not responded militarily so far, accused it of attempting to force it to "surrender".

Netanyahu warned Hamas this month of consequences it "cannot imagine" if it did not free the hostages still in Gaza, and Israeli media has reported on a scheme aimed at ramping up pressure on Hamas dubbed the "Hell Plan".

"Without the release of our hostages, Israel has no alternative but resuming military operations," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump's administration before launching the strikes, while Israel said the return to fighting was "fully coordinated" with Washington.

The United Nations and countries around the world condemned the strikes, while the families of Israeli hostages pleaded with Netanyahu to halt the violence.

Netanyahu's office said 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".

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," the statement said.

US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes blamed Hamas, saying it "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war".

Hamas said Israel had "decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement", calling it "a decision to sacrifice the occupation's prisoners and impose a death sentence on them".

Hamas said the head of its government in Gaza, Essam al-Dalis, was among several officials killed.

The group's leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, told AFP the aim of the strikes was "to undermine the ceasefire agreement and attempt to impose a surrender agreement, writing it in the blood of Gaza".

- 'Fire of hell' -

In the southern Gaza Strip, AFP footage showed people rushing stretchers with wounded people, including young children, to hospital. Bodies covered with white sheets were also taken to the hospital's mortuary.

Mohammed Jarghoun, 36, was sleeping in a tent near his destroyed house in Khan Yunis when he was awakened by huge blasts.

"I thought they were dreams and nightmares, but I saw a fire in my relatives' house. More than 20 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women."

Ramez al-Amarin, 25, described carrying children to hospital southeast of Gaza City.

"They unleashed the fire of hell again on Gaza," he said of Israel.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the bodies of 413 people had been received by Gaza hospitals, adding "a number of victims are still under the rubble".

A spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said at a briefing in Geneva "that many medical facilities are literally overwhelmed across Gaza".

- UN chief 'shocked' -

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza called for a protest in front of Netanyahu's residence, with a campaign group accusing him and other officials of dodging meetings with them "because they were planning the explosion of the ceasefire, which could sacrifice their family members".

UN chief Antonio Guterres was "shocked" by the renewed strikes, a spokesperson said, while UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified".

Britain and France both called for the renewed hostilities to end.

Hamas backer Iran denounced the wave of attacks as a "continuation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territories.

Russia and China warned against an escalation, while Egypt, Qatar, Jordan and Turkey condemned the violence.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a statement that the strikes were part of "deliberate efforts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and force the Palestinians into displacement".

Trump has floated a proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza, suggesting that Egypt or Jordan could take them in.

Both countries have rejected the notion, but some right-wing politicians in Israel have embraced it.

Netanyahu's Likud movement said Tuesday that the far-right Otzma Yehudit party would rejoin the government, having withdrawn in January in protest of the truce.

- Deadlock -

Brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the ceasefire took effect on January 19, largely halting the war triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

That first phase of the deal ended in early March, and the two sides have been unable to agree on the next steps.

US envoy Witkoff told CNN on Sunday he had offered a "bridge proposal" that would see five living hostages, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander, released in return for freeing a "substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners" from Israeli jails.

Hamas had said it was ready to free Alexander and the remains of four others.

Witkoff said Hamas had provided "an unacceptable response".

During the truce's first phase, Hamas released 33 hostages, including eight deceased, in exchange for Israel freeing around 1,800 Palestinian detainees.

Hamas has consistently demanded negotiations for the second phase, which should lead to a lasting ceasefire.

Israel had sought to extend the first phase until mid-April, cutting off aid and electricity to Gaza over the deadlock.

Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,577 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the two sides.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

K.Abe--JT