Ceasefire Betrayed: Israel Launches Massive Assault on Gaza Strip, At Least 404 Palestinians Killed

The Israeli military has announced it is conducting a “massive assault” on the Gaza Strip, with at least 404 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Many people were eating suhur (pre-dawn meal during Ramadan) when explosions began rocking Gaza early on Tuesday (March 18), eyewitnesses said. They reported that more than 20 Israeli fighter jets were flying overhead.

The warplanes then began striking targets in Gaza City, Rafah, and Khan Younis.

Attacks were reported in multiple areas, including northern Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah in the central and southern parts of the strip. Palestinian health officials said many of the victims were children, Reuters reported.

Palestinian health authorities and eyewitnesses contacted by Reuters described widespread destruction across Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in temporary shelters or damaged buildings.

A building in Gaza City, at the northern edge of the strip, was hit, along with at least three homes in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. In addition, strikes targeted areas in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, according to medical personnel and witnesses.

This marks the largest wave of airstrikes in Gaza since the ceasefire began on January 19. Talks aimed at extending the ceasefire failed to reach an agreement.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have once again been forced to flee to safer areas. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported that at least 404 people were killed in today’s Israeli air and drone strikes. This new wave of violence marks the resumption of what has been described as an Israeli genocide in Gaza, which had been paused for the past two months following the January 19 ceasefire agreement.

Who Were the Victims?

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams had handled 86 fatalities and 134 injuries, though other victims were transported to overwhelmed hospitals in private vehicles.

Officials from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, and Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City—each severely damaged by the war—reported receiving around 85 bodies in total. Authorities also reported separately that 16 members of a single family in Rafah, southern Gaza, had been killed.

Among the dead was senior Hamas official Mohammad Al-Jmasi, a member of the political bureau, along with members of his family, including his grandchildren, who were at his home in Gaza City during the airstrike, according to Hamas sources and relatives. In total, at least five senior Hamas officials were killed along with their family members.

Sources: Reuters, BBC, and Tempo