Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Airstrikes on Gaza have led to reports of 330 deaths so far as Israel says it has aimed at dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault on the territory since a ceasefire took effeect
Israel has battered Gaza with a wave of airstrikes killing hundreds of people in its war on Hamas.
Hospitals initially reported at least 235 people killed, including women and children but reports now say this has risen to at least 330, during the heaviest assault on the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. It has shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand stating Israel would from now on “act against Hamas with increasing military strength”.
People displaced by conflict and fleeing from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip arrive carrying their belongings in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
The administration of President Donald Trump was consulted on Monday by Israel on its deadly strikes in Gaza, a White House spokesperson told Fox News’ “Hannity” show.
“The Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Fox News interview.
Palestinian medics in Gaza reported dozens of people were killed in the aftermath of a series of the most violent air attacks by Israel on the Palestinian enclave since a ceasefire was reached on January 19 between Israel and Hamas.
A senior Hamas official said Israel had unilaterally overturned the ceasefire agreement.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAGenocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
The deal stipulated that negotiations on the second phase should have begun on day 16 of the first phase. However, Israel has deliberately obstructed second phase negotiations for about four weeks.
As the first phase of the deal was approaching its end, Netanyahu suspended the release of the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners on February 23 for multiple days.
The head of the Israeli government used what he called “Hamas’s humiliating ceremonies” while releasing Israeli captives in the Gaza strip as a pretext for the suspension.
However, analysts suggested that Netanyahu only resorted to that claim in order to extend the first phase of the deal and therefore secure the release of more Israel captives before moving to the next phases.
After the intervention of mediators and guarantors of the deal, namely Qatar and Egypt, Hamas did consider the cancellation of the ceremonies, in order to undermine Netanyahu’s plans to sabotage the deal. As a result, the seventh and final batch of Palestinian prisoners was released late Thursday, February 27.
Backed by the US, Netanyahu bans humanitarian aid as a tool of war
Left in the lurch by Hamas’ flexibility, Netanyahu ordered the closure of all crossings into Gaza, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and supplies into the war-torn besieged enclave on Sunday, March 2. His order came one day after the first phase of the deal had elapsed.
On Monday, March 3, Netanyahu warned that Israel might return to war with Gaza if Hamas did not return Israeli captives held in the Gaza strip.
Addressing Hamas, while speaking to the Israeli Parliament, Netanyahu said: “there will be consequences that you cannot imagine” if Israeli captives were not released.
The threats from the head of the Israeli government came days after a proposal was put forward by Trump’s “Middle East” envoy Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire during the Muslim’s holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover.
Witkoff represented the proposal as an in-between phase, which stipulated that half of the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza, both living and deceased, would be freed on the first day of the proposed phase.
Netanyahu agreed to the proposal as it appeared to align with his plans, but Hamas categorically rejected it, saying it bypasses previously signed agreements.
The Israeli Prime Minister threatened to resume the war and banned humanitarian aid into Gaza just before the Emergency Arab Summit on Gaza was held in Egypt on Tuesday, March 4. The summit aims to put forward a unanimous proposal for ruling and reconstructing post-war Gaza, without displacing Palestinians.
Analysts suggest that Netanyahu has recently increased pressure on Hamas in an attempt to force concessions, such as accepting demilitarization and Trump’s reconstruction plan for Gaza, which primarily aims to displace Palestinians.
Trump’s administration has been fueling Netanyahu’s bravado while sabotaging the ceasefire deal, not only by providing diplomatic cover but also by sending further military aid to Israel.
The US announced on Saturday that it will expedite the delivery of approximately USD 4 billion in military assistance to Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that nearly USD 12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel were approved since Trump took over in January.
Rubio reaffirmed that the US “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”
Hamas documents 962 Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement
In a televised speech, Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan described Netanyahu’s ban of humanitarian aid into Gaza and threats to return to war as “cheap blackmail” which aims to avoid starting negotiations for the second phase.
“Israel is pushing to return matters to ‘square one’ by proposing alternatives to the Gaza ceasefire agreement such as extending the first phase of the deal,” Hamdan stated.
The senior official listed 962 violations of the Gaza ceasefire and captives-for-prisoners swap deal committed by Israel during the first phase of the deal.
Military advances
According to Hamdan, the violations included almost daily advances beyond agreed-upon withdrawal lines, gunfire, killings of civilians, home demolitions, land bulldozing, and preventing displaced persons from returning for two full days. These violations resulted in killing 116 Palestinians and injuring 490 others.
Blocking humanitarian relief
Israel has resumed its wartime policy of blocking crucial humanitarian aid and relief trucks. While the agreement stipulated the entry of 50 fuel trucks daily, instead, an average of 23 trucks per day were allowed to enter throughout 42 days.
Obstructing infrastructure recovery and reconstruction
Palestinians in Gaza are in urgent need of dwelling amidst the mass destruction inflicted by Israel across the besieged strip. Yet only 15 mobile homes “out of the 60,000 agreed upon, were allowed to enter in addition to a limited number of tents.”
Israel has also prevented the entry of heavy machinery necessary “for clearing rubble and recovering bodies. While at least 500 machines are needed to accomplish the mission, only nine machines were allowed in.
The senior Palestinian official added that Israel banned the commercial sector from importing fuel of all types, “despite an explicit provision in the agreement permitting this.”
Construction materials needed for infrastructure rehabilitation and hospital restoration and essential medical equipment to rehabilitate hospitals, were blocked from entering Gaza. Moreover, civil defense equipment has been among the banned items.
Operation of the power plant and the entry of necessary supplies for its rehabilitation, were also prevented. Even the entry of cash liquidity into banks has been blocked, and the exchange of damaged currency notes has been refused.
Targeting fishermen and airspace violations
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prevented Palestinian fishermen from returning to the sea, shooting at them, and arresting some. The IOF’s aircrafts and drones operated during prohibited hours (10–12 hours daily), with 210 violations recorded.
Delaying prisoner releases
The deliberate delay in releasing Palestinian prisoners in the first phase, along with their humiliation and mistreatment, was also included in the list of violations.
Stalling negotiations
Hamdan emphasized that the deliberate delay in starting the negotiations of phase two, is a major political violation of the deal. He blamed the mediators and guarantors of the deal for the delay, saying that they “bear full responsibility for preventing Netanyahu from sabotaging all the efforts made to reach the agreement and for protecting the agreement from collapse.”
Regional and global implications
The senior Hamas leader pointed out that “international security and stability are now at risk in light of absolute US support for the Zionist entity and the international silence that remains unmoved” by Israel’s “lawlessness”.
“Israel threatens to resume the genocidal war against our people, escalates its aggression in the West Bank, continues its aggression on Lebanon, and wages a brutal attack on Syria as well. The consequences of this will not be limited to our people and our nation,” Hamdan warned.
In a message to Netanyahu that the movement will never accept his demilitarization plans, Hamdan concluded his speech using a phrase usually used by Abu Obaida, the military spokesperson of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Hamdan declared: “It is jihad of victory or martyrdom.”
Trucks line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip after Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza, March 2, 2025
THE United Nations food agency only has enough supplies in the Gaza Strip to keep public kitchens and bakeries open for less than two weeks, the body said today.
Israel has imposed another blockade on Gaza to pressure Hamas into accepting an alternative ceasefire arrangement, six weeks into their fragile truce.
Israel allowed a surge of humanitarian aid during the first six weeks of the ceasefire. But the World Food Programme said on Wednesday that its stocks are low because it prioritised delivering food to the population.
The UN agency also warned that its fuel stocks would only last for a few weeks.
Palestinians said prices spiked as people rushed to markets to stock up on supplies after Israel announced the tightening of its blockade.
After more than 16 months of war, Gaza’s population is entirely dependent on deliveries of food and other aid. Most are displaced from their homes, and many need shelter.
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Workers from the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company repair the power lines that supply seawater to the desalination plant in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 04, 2024 [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency]
Israel has cut off power to two desalination plants in the Deir Al-Balah area of central Gaza, depriving thousands of Palestinians of water, the local municipality has said.
In a statement, the Deir Al-Balah Municipality announced that the South Sea Desalination Plant and the Basra Desalination Plant ceased operations after Israeli occupation forces cut off the electricity supply.
It added that the plants produce about 20,000 cubic meters of desalinated water daily which supply about 70 per cent of the area’s residents with water.
For his part, Director General of Planning, Water and Sanitation in the Gaza Municipality, Maher Ashour Salem, warned that “the amount of water currently available in the Strip is less than 25 per cent of the normal quantities,” explaining that more than 70 per cent of water had been lost due to Israel’s destruction of the water supply lines.
He warned of a looming humanitarian disaster if the Israeli water company cuts off the water supply which makes up 80 per cent of the currently available water.
“The loss of this vital water source will severely affect domestic use, hospitals and shelters, amid almost non-existent alternative water sources as a result of the destruction of more than three-quarters of the water wells in the Gaza Strip,” Salem said.
The Israeli occupation’s decision came a day after Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stopped the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, hours after the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas had ended.
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Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
