At least 342 Palestinians have been killed as Israel launched a massive assault on Gaza, shattering a fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the chances of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has caused widespread destruction across Gaza and killed more than 48,000 Palestinians.
Hamas
Hamas has called on people across the world to “raise their voice in rejection of the resumption of the Zionist war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip”. The group also said it holds Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement”.
“Netanyahu and his Nazi government resume their aggression and genocidal war against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement. “We hold the criminal Netanyahu and the Nazi Zionist occupation fully responsible for the repercussions of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, and on the defenceless civilians and our besieged Palestinian people, who are being subjected to a brutal war and a systematic policy of starvation.
“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate.”
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Palestinian Islamic Jihad
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) says Israel is continuing its “war of extermination” on Gaza after “deliberately sabotaging all efforts to reach a ceasefire”, according to a statement shared by Israeli media outlet Haaretz.
PIJ said the renewed attack by Netanyahu and his “bloodthirsty Nazi government” will not give Israel “superiority over the resistance, neither on the ground nor in negotiations”.
“We affirm that what Netanyahu and his barbaric army failed to achieve in 15 months of crimes and bloodshed, they will not succeed in achieving again, thanks to the steadfastness of our oppressed people and the courage of our mujahideen in the fields of… resistance.”
Israel
Israeli officials have said the latest assault on Gaza will be open-ended and could expand.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
It claimed that Hamas “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators”.
“Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” said a statement. “The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Gaza’s Government Media Office
In a statement, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that Israel’s latest attack amounted to “a blatant violation of all international and humanitarian conventions, the Israeli occupation continues its massacres as part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people, disregarding the ceasefire agreement”.
It added that “most of these martyrs and missing persons are women, children, and elderly individuals, victims of crimes of genocide targeting humanity, the land, and Palestinian history”.
“These brutal massacres committed by the Israeli occupation army reaffirm that this occupation only understands the language of killing, destruction, and genocide.”
