On Tuesday, the Israeli military launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of Palestinians, ending the fragile ceasefire in the Strip.
At least 970 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry - most of them women and children - while the death toll continues to increase. The attack is one of the most brutal and deadly for Palestinians since the war in Gaza erupted on 7 October, 2023.
Israel’s strikes continued to target several locations including Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, the Nuseirat refugee camp, Rafah and Khan Younis.
Gaza families gone forever
Mothers, fathers, artists, teachers and government officials were some of those killed during Tuesday’s bombing.
Israel’s surprise attack has gone on to wipe out entire families from Gaza’s civil registry. 17 members of the Jarghoun family were killed, among them Zeinab, her husband Jihad and two young daughters, Fayrouz and Ayloul.
One of Zeinab’s last social media posts online included a picture of her, her husband and two daughters with the caption "the happy family".
Images and videos of members of the same families wrapped in shrouds have haunted social media in the past 48 hours.
In Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood, more than 30 people from the Qreiqea family were killed following a deadly strike.
Among those killed was Dorgham, a celebrated Palestinian artist who sought to bring joy to Gaza’s children by holding activities and even built a mini waterpark for them in Gaza’s south.
Tributes have poured in online for him. He was reportedly in talks to exhibit some of his artwork in New York. His artwork showcased Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, death in Gaza amid Israel’s war and Palestinian symbolism.
The Al-Barhoum family lost 16 of its members after Israeli warplanes attacked their makeshift tent in Khan Younis.
Father Salama, mother Suha and their five children were among those killed. Khamis and his wife Hanaa, from the same family, and their six children were also killed.
The Ghaboun family in Rafah has also lost all of its members, including Muatasim Read, Mohamed Raed, Aida, and Mostafa after their home was targeted in the Al-Janiya neighbourhood east of Rafah.
Other families where several members have killed include the Abu Madi, Isleeh, Abu Marshoud and Hamdieh families.
Ramy Abdu, the chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said that his sister, Nesreen and her husband Mohammed al-Jamasi were killed alongside their children Ubaida, Omar and Layan. Obaida’s wife Malak, and their children Siwar and Mohammed were also victims of Israel’s bombardment.
Layan, a 14-year-old who has been displaced for over a year, had become a teacher despite her young age after starting a classroom for children in Gaza’s makeshift camps.
"Parting is painful, but it is God’s will," Abdu wrote on X, paying tribute to his family.
Israel even targeted children who were not yet born. Alaa Abu Hilal lost his child and wife who was seven months pregnant after a strike on Al-Mawasi, near Rafah.
Officials from Gaza’s government were also killed. Among them was Essam al-Dalis, the head of the government's follow-up committee
"We mourn with all meanings of pride, honour, and gratitude, to the masses of our great Palestinian people, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world: a group of government leaders in the Gaza Strip," the government media office said in a statement.
Ahmed al-Hatta, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, Mahmoud Abu Watfa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior and Bahjat Abu Sultan, Director General of the Internal Security Service, were also killed, Al Jazeera Mubasher reported.
Clare Magone, the general director of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) France told The New Arab that MSF was "horrified by the attacks launched by Israel today on the people of Gaza, shattering the nearly two-month-old ceasefire."
"In line with the tactics that the Israeli authorities have applied since October 2023, they have once again chosen to collectively punish the people of Gaza – with the explicit approval of their closest ally, the United States – striking with an intensity not seen since the early stages of the war," Magone said.
"For over 15 months, before the ceasefire, people in Gaza were indiscriminately killed, mutilated, wounded, and displaced."
Human cost of Netanyahu’s grip on power
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the strikes were "only" the beginning, and that future negotiations with Hamas "will take place only under fire" in reference to the stalling of truce talks between the two.
The ceasefire’s first phase expired two weeks ago, and negotiations for the second phase stalled thereafter.
Hamas had repeatedly requested to move onto the second phase of as per the initial agreement, which would see an eventual withdrawal of all Israeli troops and the release of all remaining captives – paving the way for the war’s complete end.
Israel, however, has refused such, and sought to extend the truce’s first phase by 60 days instead.
Israel also blames Hamas for rejecting ceasefire proposals mediated by the US and other negotiators.
Analysts have linked Israel’s renewed bombardment of the Gaza Strip to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's desire to stay in, as he faces growing domestic opposition, exacerbated recently by his decision to fire the chief of intelligence service Shin Bet and an ongoing corruption trial.
Netanyahu is also seeking to keep his fractious far-right coalition together so he can sustain a parliamentary majority. Extremist ministers in the government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are vehemently opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza and threatened to quit over the truce.
Ben-Gvir previously resigned when the Gaza ceasefire began in January but rejoined Netanyahu’s government on Tuesday after Israel resumed bombing Gaza.
Netanyahu requires Ben-Gvir to pass the state budget bill before the end of March, as per Israeli law.
Israel’s brutal new offensive in Gaza has raised fears that thousands more people will be killed, with no permanent ceasefire in sight.
Hamas said the group has not closed the door on ceasefire negotiations but insists that there is no need for new agreements".
"We have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations," the group said.
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