Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes in Gaza

Live Updates: Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the attack, the first major strikes since the cease-fire with Hamas began roughly two months ago. The health ministry in Gaza said more than 250 had been killed.

Updated

March 18, 2025, 3:37 a.m. ET19 minutes ago

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/17/world/israel-gaza-airstrikes

Yan ZhuangRawan Sheikh Ahmad and Patrick KingsleyRawan Sheikh Ahmad reported from Haifa, Israel, and Patrick Kingsley reported from Jerusalem.

 

Here are the latest developments on the strike.

Israeli forces launched a large-scale attack across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, in the first major strikes on the territory since Israel’s cease-fire with Hamas began roughly two months ago. Gaza’s health ministry said more than 250 people had been killed.

 

The Israeli military said on Telegram just before 2:30 a.m. local time that it was “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.” At least 250 Palestinians, including children, were killed in the wave of Israeli strikes, according to the Ministry of Health. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

 

Shortly afterward, Hamas said in a statement that the Israeli government had “resumed their aggression” in the Gaza Strip. Gaza residents reported intense strikes across the territory.

 

Israel’s strikes followed weeks of fruitless negotiations aimed at extending the truce and freeing more hostages held in Gaza. At dawn on Tuesday, it was not clear whether the strikes were a brief attempt to force Hamas to compromise or the start of a new phase of war in which it would again try to force Hamas from Gaza.

 

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Israel had consulted the White House before launching the strikes.

 

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

 

It was unclear whether the attack effectively ended the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that took effect in mid-January. Hamas accused Israel of deciding to “overturn the cease-fire agreement, exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” referring to the remaining hostages seized in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

 

“The enemy will not achieve by war and destruction what it failed to achieve at the negotiating table,” said Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas official, in a statement.

 

The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement that he and the defense minister, Israel Katz, had instructed the military to act, citing “repeated refusal” by Hamas to release the hostages and saying the militants had rejected all proposals from Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, and other mediators.

 

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement said.

 

Here’s what else to know:

Targets in Gaza: Strikes were confirmed in at least three places: Gaza City, in the territory’s north; Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza; and Khan Younis, in the south. Gaza’s Civil Defense, the main emergency service in the Palestinian territory, said on Telegram that it was facing operating difficulties because of “multiple targets being struck at the same time.”

 

Fate of hostages: Fewer than half of the 59 hostages remaining in Gaza are thought to be alive, according to the Israeli government. Their fate is nonetheless deeply important to Israelis, who want to bring them home, and to Hamas, which views them as key bargaining chips.

 

Evacuation orders: The Israeli military ordered Palestinians living in parts of Gaza closer to the border with Israel to flee their homes, labeling them “dangerous combat zones.” But it stopped short of ordering a mass evacuation of northern Gaza, as it did at the beginning of the war in October 2023.

 

Smaller strikes: Since the cease-fire took effect, Israel has conducted a string of smaller strikes on Gaza, which Hamas says have killed more than 150 people, at least some of them civilians. It has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the truce agreement by continuing military operations.

 

Raja Abdulrahim and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.