President Donald Trump “gave the green light” for Israel to begin an onslaught on the Gaza Strip that killed at least 400 people early Tuesday, according to a report.
The latest Israeli airstrikes have been described by officials as the most intense attack since the agreed ceasefire came into effect in January.
The president gave Israel the go-ahead after Hamas failed to hand over the hostages, an Israeli official told the Wall Street Journal. Israel then gave the Trump administration a “heads up” before it carried out the attack, according to the outlet.
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.
Israel’s bombardment targeted dozens of locations across the enclave, including Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. Israel’s military called them “preemptive strikes targeting mid-ranking [Hamas] military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure”, while Palestinian health officials claimed most of the dead were women and children.
Israel said it would continue its operations for “as long as necessary” and that the offensive would extend beyond airstrikes, raising the prospect of a renewed ground assault.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes due to the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations, calling the operation “open-ended,” raising fears of a full resumption of hostilities in the 17-month war. The first phase of January’s ceasefire expired on March 1, with the understanding that a second phase would be agreed upon by both sides.
Netanyahu’s office warned: “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
The number of deaths reported by local hospitals and health officials steadily rose throughout the day as rescuers searched the rubble for the dead and wounded, and sporadic airstrikes continued.
The escalation shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and deepened concerns about the fate of hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce and putting the captives "at an unknown fate.”
Hamas also called on mediators to hold Israel "fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement."
A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Risheq, accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to try and save his right-wing coalition government and called on mediators to “reveal facts” on who broke the truce.
Hamas said at least four senior officials were killed in Tuesday's strikes.
How Hamas would react to the bombardment remained unclear. There were still no reports of retaliation by the group later on Tuesday, indicating it still hoped for a resumption of the ceasefire deal.
In Khan Younis, Palestinian witnesses reported seeing plumes of smoke and bodies covered in bloodied sheets as overwhelmed hospitals struggled to treat the injured. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams had counted at least 86 dead and 134 wounded, while dozens more were brought to hospitals by private vehicles.
Some of the wounded were brought to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor screaming. A young boy sat with a bandage around his head as a health worker checked for more injuries, and a young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged, the Associated Press reported.
At least 17 members of one family, including 12 women and children, were killed in a strike on a home in the southern city of Rafah, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents and another father and his three children.
Many Palestinians had anticipated a return to hostilities after ceasefire talks stalled in early February. Instead of resuming negotiations, Israel imposed a blockade on food, fuel, and aid deliveries in an attempt to pressure Hamas into accepting an alternative proposal.
That new proposal would have required Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners – a key component of the first phase.
"Nobody wants to fight," said Gaza City resident Nidal Alzaanin. "Everyone is still suffering from the previous months."
During the first six-week phase of the truce, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and returned the bodies of eight others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Second phase talks had aimed to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages – 35 of whom are believed to be dead – and bring an end to the war. Hamas has insisted that all its captives will only be freed in exchange for a complete Israeli military withdrawal and a formal end to hostilities. Israel has refused these terms, stating it will continue its offensive until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are recovered.
Netanyahu has come under mounting domestic scrutiny over his handling of the hostage crisis.
Families of those still held in Gaza expressed concern on Tuesday 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.
But he has also faced demands from his hard-line allies not to allow any deal in Gaza that falls short of Hamas' destruction.
His office on Tuesday said Hamas had “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”
A return to war would allow Netanyahu to avoid the tough trade-offs called for in the second phase of the agreement and the thorny question of who would govern Gaza. It would also shore up his coalition, which depends on far-right lawmakers who want to depopulate Gaza and re-build Jewish settlements there.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels denounced the Israeli strikes, saying that "the Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle" – indicating a possible resumption of the group’s strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The U.S. launched its own airstrikes over the weekend targeting the Houthis in Yemen in retaliation for those attacks on shipping. At least 53 people were reportedly killed.
Trump warned Monday that Iran would "suffer the consequences" for any further Houthi attacks.
Additional reporting by agencies
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