A Palestinian man holds the body of his 11 month-old nephew killed in an Israeli army airstrikes at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. AP
On Tuesday, Israel resumed its war on the Gaza Strip with a series of intense airstrikes.
After two months of relative calm during the ceasefire, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of the rubble and holding funeral prayers over the dead at hospital morgues.
On the first day of the renewed offensive, the occupation army killed more than 429 Palestinians, including 157 children, and wounded over 500.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes targeting displaced people killed at least 24 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
The new toll surpasses 500 Palestinians killed, including 170 children and 80 women, Gaza's civil defence agency reported.
Among the fatalities, four people, including an elderly woman, were killed in a strike in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis.
Another Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of the city killed a woman and her child, leaving several others wounded.
In Rafah, two people were killed when Israel hit a displacement camp in the western part of the city.
Meanwhile, four Palestinians lost their lives, and others were injured in a deadly attack on a residential building in the Sabra neighbourhood of southern Gaza City.
Moreover, Palestinian media sources reported that Israeli warplanes bombed a home belonging to the Abu Al-Rous family near the Al-Bashir Mosque in the Hikr Al-Jami area of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.
Overturning ceasefire agreement
Hamas accused Israel of overturning the nearly two-month-long ceasefire agreement and “putting the captives in Gaza at risk of an unknown fate.”
It stated that Israel failed to exit the agreement politically and instead chose to withdraw militarily by launching its assault on Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Tuesday that the attacks were "only the beginning" and that future negotiations with Hamas "will take place only under fire."
"Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you — and them — this is only the beginning," he said in a video statement.
Israel refused to implement the ceasefire and move to the second phase; instead, it put new demands to extend the first phase.
Preparing for ground operation
The attacks could signal the full resumption of the Israeli war that has already killed 49,000 Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that the offensive would continue and hinted at the possibility of resuming ground operations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, security analysts familiar with the Israeli army’s plans revealed that the occupation forces are preparing for a large-scale ground operation in Gaza. The report indicated that the army may target multiple areas with increased firepower.
The newspaper also cited sources saying that the Israeli army intends to maintain its occupation of areas in Gaza, with Israel taking on a more significant role in aid distribution.
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