Hamas has criticised Israel for the surprise attacks and stated that these strikes will be viewed as a "unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire."
Israel has resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip, effectively discarding the ceasefire deal implemented with Palestinian militant group Hamas in January 2025. The attacks, which were launched on Tuesday, have resulted in over 400 deaths, a majority of which have been attributed to children.
As per the latest numbers of the Gaza Health Ministry, 404 have been killed and at least 562 are injured due to Israel's overnight strikes. The attacks targeted Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, Gaza City in the north, and central areas like Deir el-Balah.
Hamas has criticised Israel for the surprise attacks and stated that these strikes will be viewed as a "unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire."
Egypt, which is a key mediator for the ceasefire, has also termed Israel's attacks as a clear violation of the agreement.
A statement form the Egyptian Foreign Ministry calls the overnight strikes a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire deal," adding that Cairo rejects “all Israeli attacks which aim to make ongoing efforts to de-escalate and regain stability fail”.
However, Israel and the United States led by Trump have accused Hamas of rejecting the ceasefire extension, prompting Tel Aviv to resume its assault on Gaza.
As the world calls for a cessation of fighting and condemns the fresh strikes on Gaza, it is important to note that this attack comes as a direct violation of the ceasefire from Israel's side.
Israel and Hamas implemented a ceasefire on January 19, 2025. The ceasefire agreement, confirmed by the United States, Qatar and Egypt stated that the truce will be carried out in three phases of six weeks each.
The first phase began on January 19, 2025, with the release of living Israeli hostages and soldiers in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Furthermore, with the ceasefire in place, highly anticipated humanitarian aid for sent into the Gaza Strip.
As per the statement made by former US President Joe Biden, whose draft was accepted for the ceasefire, Phase 1 would focus on the release of hostages and aid into Gaza.
During this, Israel, Hamas and the mediator countries will focus on the details for Phase 2.
However, the official statement from the adds that if the negotiations for the second phase exceed six weeks, the ceasefire should remain intact.
"There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two, but the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue, as long as the negotiations continue," said Biden.
The day after the first phase was implemented, Donald Trump was sworn in as the President of the United States, and since then, Trump has been extremely vocal about Israel "finishing the job" in Gaza, referring to eliminating Hamas.
On March 2, 2025, the first phase of the ceasefire expired. Within hours, Israel announced a blockade on all aid, stating that Hamas had refused to extend the ceasefire and release all hostages in one go. Israeli and US officials further stated that Hamas rejected the proposal presented by special envoy Steve Witkoff.
However, as per an Al Jazeera report, it was Israel that rejected the proposal.
As per the agreement signed in January 2025, phase two would focus on the release of the "remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza and the temporary ceasefire will become permanent."
With a switch in the US government, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff called for the release of an Israeli-American prisoner and the bodies of four captives, in exchange for a 50-day extension.
Hamas responded by saying it is ready to release all hostages, only if phase two of the ceasefire is implemented. Israel then proceeded to reject this proposal.
Furthermore, Al Jazeera added that Witkoff's proposal only called for 50 days of extension not the second phase, highlighting the US' refusal for the next phase as well.
The ceasefire, which lasted for six weeks, brought a halt to at least 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, 2023, Israel's bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians were killed, of which 17,492 were children.
Furthermore, Israel carried out certain attacks during the ceasefire period as well, which resulted in 170 deaths.