Israel resumes strikes in Gaza, reportedly killing hundreds and promising increased force against Hamas

Israel has launched new strikes in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 400 people, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run Health Ministry, and promising to wield "increasing military force" after talks on further hostage releases stalled, according to officials on both sides of the war. The resumption of Israel's war against Hamas on Monday came after almost two months of relative calm in Gaza under a ceasefire the U.S. helped to broker, but which Israel and Hamas could not agree on how to continue. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement its military is "currently attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving the war goals as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all our hostages — living and dead."

"From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force," the prime minister's office said.

The health ministry in Gaza, a densely populated coastal enclave that has been run by the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist organization Hamas for almost two decades, said at least 404 people had been killed in Israel's fresh strikes by midday on Tuesday. Video from the territory showed bodies lined up on the floors of hospitals as more casualties streamed in.

Mourners gather near the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at a hospital in Gaza City, March 18, 2025.Stringer/REUTERS

The statement from Netanyahu's office said Israel was resuming strikes because of Hamas' repeated refusals to release its hostages and its rejection of all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators.

"If Hamas does not release all the kidnapped, the gates of hell will open in Gaza and Hamas' murderers and rapists will meet the IDF with forces they have never known before," Defense Minister Israel Katz said. "We will not stop fighting until all the kidnapped return home and all the war's goals are achieved."

Over the weekend, Witkoff warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately "or pay a severe price."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday evening that the Trump administration was consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza.

"Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war," National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told CBS News on Monday.

Hostages families, U.N. and Egypt condemn resumption of war

The group representing the Israeli hostages' families condemned Netanyahu's decision to resume the fighting, accusing him of a "complete deception," arguing that it would endanger the remaining captives, and quickly organizing a new protest against the move.

"The families' greatest fear has come true — the Israeli government has chosen to give up on the abductees. We are shocked, angry and anxious about the deliberate disruption of the process to return our loved ones from Hamas captivity," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. 

"Returning to fighting before the last abductee is returned will come at the cost of the 59 abductees who are still in Gaza and could be saved and returned," the group said, accusing Netanyahu's government of having "refused to declare an end to the war in order to implement the next steps in the [ceasefire] deal and return all the abductees." 

The forum dismissed Netanyahu's claim that the resumption of fighting was intended to secure the remaining hostages' release as "a complete deception."

The forum said "families are now making their way to Jerusalem and calling on the people of Israel to stand with them" in a protest on Tuesday. "There is nothing more urgent than this! With each passing day, the danger to the hostages grows. Military pressure could further endanger their lives and complicate efforts to bring them home safely."

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip," adding that it would "add tragedy onto tragedy."

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the U.N. chief was "shocked by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, in which a meaningful number of civilians have been killed. He strongly appeals for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be reestablished and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally."

Egypt, which helped negotiate the ceasefire along with the U.S. and Qatar, issued a statement condemning Israel's actions, which it called "a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and a dangerous escalation that threatens to have dire consequences for the stability of the region."

"Egypt reiterates its complete rejection of all Israeli attacks aimed at re-igniting tension in the region and thwarting efforts aimed at calming the situation and restoring stability. It calls on the international community to intervene immediately to halt the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and prevent the region from re-entering a new cycle of violence and counter-violence," Egypt's foreign ministry said.

Hamas says Israel "fully responsible for violating and overturning" ceasefire

Hamas also condemned the attacks, accusing Israel of breaching the ceasefire and putting the fate of the remaining hostages in jeopardy.

In a statement, Hamas said it would hold Netanyahu's government "fully responsible for the repercussions of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, and for the defenseless civilians and our besieged Palestinian people, who are subjected to a brutal war and a systematic policy of starvation."

"Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate," said Hamas, adding a demand for the U.S. and its negotiating partners Egypt and Qatar to "hold Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement."

In a separate statement, Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou said Israel's "coordination with the U.S. administration prior to the attacks confirms the U.S. partnership in the genocide perpetrated against our people and its role in covering up Israeli war crimes."

What happened during the ceasefire?

The new strikes come amid the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month-long war that saw dozens of hostages released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The first phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1 but the pause in major fighting held until Monday.

Since the first phase of the ceasefire ended, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward to a second phase aimed at releasing the nearly 60 remaining hostages and ending the war altogether. Netanyahu had repeatedly threatened to resume the war, and President Trump had also issued several warnings and ultimatums to Hamas — some contradicting the agreed-upon terms of the ceasefire — as negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire struggled to materialize.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States had been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

Earlier in the month, Israel cut off aid into Gaza, stopping the entry of all goods and supplies into the Palestinian territory. Israel said the aid blockade was aimed at pressuring Hamas to accept a proposal drafted by the Trump administration to extend the first phase of the ceasefire. Under the proposal, Israel had demanded Hamas immediately hand over half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, which would have been a significant change in the terms initially agreed to under the deal brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt.

On Friday, Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-nationals who had died in captivity. Netanyahu's office cast doubt on the offer last week, accusing the U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group of trying to manipulate talks underway in Qatar on the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

In a separate Friday statement, Hamas official Husam Badran reaffirmed what he said was Hamas' commitment to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in all its phases, warning that any Israeli deviation from the terms would return negotiations to square one. 

The agreement had called for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire's more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.  

The war erupted with Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, cross-border terrorist attack, which killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population. The territory's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.

While the ceasefire largely halted the fighting, Israel has left troops in Gaza throughout the past two months and continued to strike targets, claiming that Palestinians were trying to carry out attacks or approaching troops in no-go zones. A number of strikes earlier Monday killed a total of 10 people, according to Palestinian officials.