Israel-Gaza war latest: Netanyahu calls strikes that shattered ceasefire and killed 404 ‘only the beginning’ – UK Times

Some families who already know their relatives in Gaza are dead have criticised the Israeli government’s decision to resume airstrikes.

“This is not only a disaster in every way, shape or form on how the hostages keep suffering, being chained to walls, starved, abused, but also the death toll that keeps rising on the Gazan side,” Udi Goren said.

His cousin Tal Haimi was killed on 7 October and his body was taken into Gaza. Mr Goren said the international community must pressure Hamas, Israel and the mediators – the United States, Egypt and Qatar – to end the war.

“Returning to fighting? Did you listen to a word of what we, the returnees released in the last deal, have been saying to you?” former hostage Omer Wenkert wrote on Instagram.

Romi Gonen, among the first hostages to be freed in the ceasefire’s first phase, said she would never forget what it felt like in captivity to hear the bombs after previous ceasefire talks collapsed and realise she wouldn’t be freed any time soon.

“I beg you, the people of Israel, we must continue to fight for them,” she said on Instagram.

Sylvia Cunio, whose two sons are held hostage, accused Israel’s leaders of not having a heart.

“It isn’t right to continue the fighting. I want my children back home already. If he wants to kill me, the prime minister, let him do that already because I won’t get through this,” she said on local radio.

When a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began two months ago, Herut Nimrodi knew it would take time before her son was released from captivity in Gaza.

The 20-year-old soldier was meant to be part of the second phase of the deal winding down the war.

But with Israel’s surprise bombardment of Gaza, she fears he might not come home at all.

“I really wanted to believe that there is still a chance to reach a second stage without renewing this war. But it feels like my building of hope has collapsed, and I have no idea what to do next,” Ms Nimrodi told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

During the ceasefire’s first phase, which began in January, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. But since that phase ended early this month, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward.

Israel’s renewed airstrikes threaten to end the fragile deal.

Ms Nimrodi’s son, Tamir, was abducted from his army base when Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. She’s had no sign of life. He hasn’t been declared dead by Israel.

The strikes early on Tuesday killed more than 400 people and shattered a relative calm — along with hopes of ending the war that has killed over 48,000 Palestinians.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the airstrikes because of lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire.

The return to fighting could deepen the painful debate in Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages.

“It’s so sad that this is the only solution that they could find,” she said, lamenting the government’s decision.

The Associated Press reports that former hostages have expressed “horror” at the collapse of the ceasefire and urged the Israeli government to return to the negotiating table.

Israeli-American former hostage Keith Siegel told the news agency that his Hamas captors became violent after the first ceasefire collapsed in November 2023 and fighting resumed.

He said: “Today, a year and four months later, the ceasefire has collapsed again. I think of the 59 hostages still being held in Gaza. How afraid they are, not only of the terrorists’ cruelty and of Israeli attacks, but also of the collapse of the negotiations that will prevent their return home.”

At least 10 US strikes targeted areas in Yemen, including Saada province and Hodeidah, controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, local media reported early on Wednesday.

The US launched a wave of strikes against the Houthis at the weekend, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Houthi missiles were also launched towards Israel on Tuesday after the Israeli military’s pre-dawn bombardment of Gaza.

Houthi forces detected hostile military movements in the Red Sea in preparation for launching a large-scale air attack on the country, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Wednesday.

Mr Sarea said, without offering evidence, that Houthis targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman and other warships with missiles and drones, thwarting the US attack.

Thousands of Israelis packed a Tel Aviv square to protest Netanyahu’s intention to fire the country’s domestic security chief and to call on the government to resume negotiations for a hostage deal.

The Shin Bet security chief, Ronen Bar, has been a key player in ceasefire talks but was recently replaced by a Netanyahu confidant.

Mr Netanyahu now wants to fire Mr Bar, saying he has lost trust in him. Demonstrators say the dismissal is a power grab by Netanyahu.

Many also said the resumption of fighting in Gaza endangers the hostages still held there. “Today Netanyahu did not open the gates of hell on Hamas. He opened the gates of hell on our loved ones,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son is among the hostages.

There were no reports of any attacks by Hamas as of Wednesday morning, some 24 hours after the Israeli bombardment began.

But Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired rockets toward Israel for the first time since the ceasefire was agreed in January.

The volley set off sirens in Israel’s southern Negev desert but was intercepted before it reached the country’s territory, the military said.

The US over the weekend launched deadly strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis, and threatened to carry out more if the group continued to target Red Sea shipping lanes with rockets.

The White House-approved Israeli strikes on Gaza have raised concerns about the fate of the roughly two dozen hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.

A senior Hamas official said Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to return to war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages.

Families of those still held in Gaza expressed concern for their loved ones.

“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 Hostages Families Forum said.

Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to save his right-wing governing coalition.

Different factions of the government had been at odds over what a second ceasefire phase would mean for the future of Gaza.

The pre-dawn barrage across Gaza shattered the fragile ceasefire that had been in place since January, killing over 400 people according to local health officials in the Hamas-run strip.

It struck homes and shelters and set a tent camp ablaze as families slept or prepared the “sohour,” the meal Muslims eat before they start the daily fast in the holy month of Ramadan.

In Gaza City, Omar Greygaa said that after the strikes, he ran out to help survivors in a nearby stricken building.

“In every room I found the dead. … I finish in one place and go to another, and I find more dead,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re in a state of war or truce.”

The attack could signal the full resumption of a war that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump was “consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza,” she told Sean Hannity on Fox News.

“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” Leavitt said.

Her words echoed Trump’s warning at the weekend that he would “let hell break out” if Hamas failed to release all the hostages.

National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said Hamas “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”

Earlier, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff – who was leading mediation efforts – had demanded Hamas release the remaining live hostages “or pay a severe price.” Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz warned that the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages were not returned.

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza that killed more than 400 Palestinians were “only the beginning” said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he vowed to force Hamas to release all hostages.

Hamas said at least six senior officials were killed in Tuesday’s strikes. Israel said they included the head of Hamas’s civilian government, a justice ministry official and two security agency chiefs.

All further ceasefire negotiations will take place “under fire”, Mr Netanyahu said in a statement aired on national television. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.

The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and head toward the centre of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon launch renewed ground operations.

The new campaign comes as aid groups warn supplies are running out two weeks after Israel cut off all food, medicine, fuel and other goods to Gaza’s two million Palestinians.