By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said Tuesday that Israeli strikes across the territory have killed at least 200 people and that the death toll continues to rise.
It was challenging to verify the death toll independently, and the authorities did not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City, and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
In Washington, the White House confirmed it had been briefed about the air strikes. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald J. Trump again threatened Hamas will have “hell to pay” if it doesn’t release “all” of its remaining hostages — including an American-Israeli — adding this would be his “last warning” and that “it will be OVER” for Hamas if it does not comply.
“RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, the latest in several similar threats.
On Tuesday, an Israeli official said the extensive operation launched across the Gaza Strip was targeting Hamas leadership and infrastructure and would last “as long as necessary.”
The Israeli military “has launched a series of preemptive strikes targeting mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the official, who declined to be named, said, adding that the operation “will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes.”
Hamas-backed officials claimed many children were among the dead, showing distressing images of the bodies of children in hospital morgues. It was unclear when this footage had been recorded.
WAR OBJECTIVES
As the strikes continued, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the attacks had “the goal of achieving the war objectives as determined by the political leadership, including the release of all our hostages – both the living and the fallen.”
“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages and its rejection of all the proposals it received from U.S. president’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” the statement added.
It also came after U.S. President Trump, who met several released hostages, expressed his outrage about the suffering they endured and compared some of the images with those being released from Nazi death camps during the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended two weeks ago, but Israel refused to implement the scheduled second phase after Hamas publicly displayed hostages or their human remains.
At one point, Hamas said last month, a fourth body was that of a mother, Shiri Bibas, who Hamas killed along with her two young children. But Israel said forensic testing showed it was not her.
Netanyahu alleged Hamas “put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin” instead of the body of Shiri Bibas, prompting outrage in Israel and at the White House.
Amid the outrage, Israel refused to implement the second phase of the ceasefire, which was supposed to end with its withdrawal from Gaza, the freedom of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and a definitive end to the armed conflict.
AID TROUBLES
Observers say Israel also blocked aid to Gaza over the past two weeks, “in violation of the ceasefire deal,” in a bid to force Hamas to accept its demands.
The move has been condemned by countries such as Britain, France, and Germany, but U.S. President Trump has made clear he supports Israel’s attempts to get its hostages released.
The latest strikes are Israel’s heaviest assault on the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the [Israel Defense Forces] (IDF) to take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office stressed.
“The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon, including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.”
There was also a warning to Hamas. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength. The operational plan was presented by the IDF over the weekend and approved by the political leadership.”
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations announced that the U.N. Security Council “will convene tomorrow to discuss the situation in Gaza. It is time for the countries of the world to take seriously our unwavering commitment to bring back all our hostages home and defeat the enemy,” he said, in a post on social media platform X.
FREEING HOSTAGES
“Nothing will stop us from fighting to free our hostages who have been held in brutal Hamas captivity for 527 days. We will show no mercy against our enemies while our hostages languish in Hamas terror tunnels.”
However, aid workers, including Sally Thomas, humanitarian manager at the Catholic charity Caritas Australia, warned that the strikes would impact aid distribution.
“In the first month of the ceasefire, around 56,000 metric tons of food entered Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior. Alongside this, humanitarians have been working to take care of an estimated 350,000 chronically ill people in Gaza, where there are just 108 [intensive care unit] beds remaining and a lack of necessities such as oxygen and vital medical equipment,” she said.
“Our global conscience, and of course the vulnerable people in Gaza, simply cannot afford for this work to stop,” she said, “We must not tolerate further suffering.”
Israel says it does not target civilians but accuses Hamas of using residents as human shields. It also points out that the war was sparked on October 7, 2023, when Hamas entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people, including babies and women they had raped, while kidnapping hundreds of people.
The Israeli government described it as the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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