Hamas says attacks ‘overturn’ ceasefire as families of Israeli captives accuse Netanyahu of ‘giving up on hostages’.
Israel has launched a massive wave of air strikes on Gaza, killing hundreds of people and shattering the fragile two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
Tuesday’s attack, which took place across Gaza, was its most intense since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, with the Palestinian Health Ministry reporting at least 326 people killed.
Here is how the world is reacting to the deadly attacks:
Hamas
Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it viewed Israel’s attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire that began on January 19.
“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement.
Later, Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement that “Netanyahu’s decision to resume war” was “a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them”.
Israel
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation was open-ended and expected to expand.
“From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force,” it said, adding that the operation was ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved.”
The United States
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “the Trump administration and the White House” had been consulted by Israel on the attacks.
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay – all hell will break loose,” she said.
Families of Israeli captives
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of captives held in Gaza, said in a post on X that the Israeli government’s decision to attack showed that it had chosen “to give up on the hostages”.
“We are shocked, angry, and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the group said. It asked the government why it “backed out of the ceasefire agreement” with Hamas.
Yemen’s Houthi group
Yemen’s Houthi rebels promised an escalation in support of Palestinians against a backdrop of mounting hostilities with the US.
“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council said in a statement. “The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group accused Israel of “deliberately sabotaging all efforts to reach a ceasefire”.
China
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing was “highly concerned” about the situation, calling for parties to “avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster”.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
CAIR, a Washington DC-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, said in a statement that it condemned the Netanyahu government “for resuming its horrific and genocidal attacks on the men, women and children of Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians in a matter of hours”.
“Netanyahu would clearly rather massacre Palestinian children in refugee camps than risk the disintegration of his cabinet by exchanging all those held by both sides and permanently ending the genocidal war, as required by the ceasefire agreement that President Trump helped broker and that he must salvage,” the organisation said.