The world awoke to the shocking news that Israel had resumed its genocidal war on Gaza.
Questions abounded: How many people were hurt? Why is this happening? How did we get here?
Here is what we know:
What is happening in Gaza?
Israel killed more than 400 people in overnight attacks on Tuesday, launching air raids as people slept in the early hours of the morning.
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement announcing the resumption of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Where did the attacks take place?
According to reports, Israeli raids targeted the northern, central, and southern governorates.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli tanks shelled the town of Abasan in Khan Younis.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abou Azzoum said, “Most of the air strikes have been on heavily built-up neighbourhoods, makeshift schools and residential buildings where people are taking shelter.”
What do we know about the victims?
At least 404 people have been reported killed by Israel in just a few hours.
Images emerging from the ground showed children among the victims. There is an unknown number of people still under the rubble.
The Government Media Office said: “Most of these martyrs and missing persons are women, children, and the elderly”, adding that in some cases, “entire families” had been killed.
What reason did Israel give for breaking the ceasefire?
Israel claims it is doing this to force Hamas to release the captives being held in Gaza.
It also claims it knows that Hamas was rearming and planning a new attack.
However, “Israel itself had decided to remove itself from the negotiations for phase two of this deal that would ultimately see an end to the war and the release of all 59 Israeli captives still being held in Gaza”, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said.
Israel had been trying to avoid moving to the second phase of the ceasefire, with backing from the United States, while Hamas has argued that the deal should continue to phase two, as initially agreed upon.
What is Hamas saying?
Hamas released a statement on its Telegram accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire and continuing its genocide.
It called the attacks a “blatant violation of all international and humanitarian conventions” and said the perilous humanitarian situation and lack of fuel on the ground meant many of the wounded died because they were unable to reach hospitals.
What has been the US response?
The White House said Israel consulted the US before resuming the attacks.
What do we know about the captives?
There are about 59 Israeli captives left in Gaza, of whom less than half are believed to still be alive, according to the Israeli government.
Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire and risking the lives of the captives.
The forum of families of captives in Israel said “their greatest fear has come true” and blamed their government for giving up on the captives.
“We are shocked, angry, and scared about the deliberate disruption of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
💥Hostage Families Forum: “The greatest fear of the families, the hostages, and the citizens of Israel has come true. The Israeli government has chosen to give up on the hostages. We are shocked, angry, and scared about the deliberate disruption of the process to return our loved…
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) March 18, 2025
What led to this escalation?
We told you about the Israeli claims and how the negotiations actually went.
In retrospect, Israel may have never intended to leave Gaza or stop the war.
When both sides agreed to a ceasefire, Israel refused to state in writing that it would not resume hostilities after the first phase.
Hamas still agreed to the terms after receiving verbal guarantees from mediators – Egypt, Qatar and the US – that Israel would not restart its genocidal war against Palestinians.
The US, which supplies most of Israel’s arms and provides it with unwavering support, is the only country with real leverage against Israel, and it is clear that it has again reneged on its promise to protect Palestinian lives from unlawful – likely criminal – Israeli violence.
But Israel said it was only doing this for the captives, right?
That is very, very hard to believe.
Israel’s war in Gaza is also part of a wider conflict it is waging across the region, claiming that it is necessary for its security.
It has been bombing southern Lebanon pretty much since a ceasefire was signed between it and the Lebanese government. On March 16, it killed four people in two villages.
The same night, Israel killed two people in the Syrian city of Deraa, claiming it was targeting remnants of the regime of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, although it is not clear why that concerns them.
What is more, Israel is continuing its violent campaign of raids on occupied West Bank refugee camps, claiming to be trying to root out Palestinian fighters.
However, experts previously told Al Jazeera that armed groups in Palestinian refugee camps do not pose a threat to Israel, having formed in 2021 mostly to respond to Israel’s violent, frequent raids on the camps and its entrenching and increasingly violent occupation, which violates international law.
