Renewed Israeli airstrikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed hundreds of people, including more than 100 children, and injured hundreds of others, Gaza officials said. The collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza and the large-scale civilian deaths have been met with shock by senior United Nations officials and humanitarian organizations around the world.
The war in Gaza has escalated dramatically over the past 48 hours, following the breakdown of a two-month ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. The reported failure of negotiations has triggered one of the most intense waves of attacks since the beginning of the conflict.
Israel launched a brutal military campaign across the territory on Monday, with a particularly high number of attacks recorded on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 400 people have been killed and at least 560 injured. A number of other victims are still buried under the rubble, the ministry said.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement today that some of the airstrikes reportedly hit makeshift shelters with sleeping children and families, noting that this was "another deadly reminder that nowhere is safe in Gaza."
“Reports and images emerging from the Gaza Strip following today’s attacks are beyond horrifying. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, including more than 130 children, representing the largest single-day child death toll in the last year,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“The latest attacks come as lifesaving aid remains blocked from entering Gaza, compounding the risks to children. It has been sixteen days since the last truck delivering humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza. In addition, electricity has been cut to the main desalination plant, significantly reducing the amount of potable water.”
Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a blatant war crime, endangering the lives of more than two million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Israel has also cut power to a desalination plant for drinking water in Gaza, depriving civilians of water essential to their survival.
Russell said Gaza's one million children, who have endured more than 15 months of war, have been plunged back into a world of fear and death.
“The attacks and the violence must stop – now,” she demanded.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he was horrified by last night’s Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza.
“This will add tragedy onto tragedy,” he said, noting that the last 18 months of violence had made it abundantly clear that there was no military way out of this crisis. The only way forward was a political solution in accordance with international law.
“Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions,” he said. “This nightmare must end immediately. “
Muhannad Hadi, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), said that the killings were unconscionable, adding that a ceasefire must be reinstated immediately.
“People in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. An end to hostilities, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of the hostages and the restoration of basic services and people’s livelihoods, are the only way forward,” he said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres today expressed his shock at the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and called for the ceasefire to be respected, for unhindered humanitarian aid to resume and for the unconditional release of the remaining hostages.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Guterres said the situation in Gaza was intolerable, with hundreds of people reportedly killed.
Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who briefed the UN Security Council on Tuesday morning, said that overnight, “our worst fears materialized.”
“New evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces, and once again, the people of Gaza living in abject fear. Modest gains made during the ceasefire destroyed,” he said.
Fletcher warned that the current blockade of aid and commercial goods is reversing the progress made during the ceasefire. Essential resources for survival were now being rationed.
Since March 2, the Israeli authorities have cut off all life-saving supplies - food, medicine, fuel, cooking gas - to 2.1 million people. Repeated UN requests to collect aid at the Kerem Shalom crossing, where food is rotting and medicine is expiring, have been systematically refused.
As an occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation under international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention, to allow and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need, including food, water, medicine and other supplies essential to the survival of civilians.
The deliberate obstruction of aid constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law and a war crime under international law. The collective punishment of civilians is also a grave war crime.
“This total blockade of life-saving aid, basic commodities and commercial goods will have a disastrous impact on the people of Gaza who remain dependent on a steady flow of assistance into the Strip,” Fletcher warned.
The 42-day ceasefire proved what’s possible, he told the Council. “Aid delivery was enabled, and we scaled up quickly and effectively.”
A return to pre-ceasefire conditions or a complete denial of humanitarian aid was unacceptable, Fletcher said, adding that civilians must be protected and their basic needs met. International law must be respected.
The Under-Secretary-General said humanitarian aid and essential commercial goods must be allowed into Gaza, the ceasefire must be renewed, and the humanitarian response must be funded.
“First and foremost, humanitarian aid and commercial essentials must be allowed to enter Gaza. Blocking food, water and medicine for people who need them is unconscionable. It also goes against international humanitarian law and the provisional orders of the International Court of Justice”, Fletcher said.
On January 19, a ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States took effect in Gaza. The first phase of the agreement lasted 42 days.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which lasted until March 1, 2025, allowed humanitarian organizations to rapidly implement a prepared scale-up of their response. The cessation of Israeli attacks allowed for the daily entry of large quantities of humanitarian supplies and a steady flow of fuel.
It also significantly improved the overall security environment and humanitarian access in Gaza. 42,000 trucks of goods and humanitarian aid entered Gaza during the first phase. Over 4,000 trucks of aid were crossing into Gaza each week, reaching more than two million people.
The humanitarian organization Plan International said today that it was horrified by the return of hostilities in Gaza with Israeli airstrikes overnight that killed hundreds of people, many of them children and women, noting that this was a blatant indiscriminate attack against civilians.
Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are war crimes under international law.
“We condemn this renewed attack by the Israeli military against children and all civilians in Gaza,” said Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director for Plan International.
“Children in Gaza have already suffered enough – they have endured the loss of their lives, their families, their homes, their schools, their hospitals, their communities and their humanity. Every day is a struggle for survival. This must end.”
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has also been unable to deliver aid since March 2. The humanitarian organization has more than 50 trucks of shelter, education, cleaning and hygiene supplies waiting on the Egyptian side of the border.
“Palestinians civilians have endured 17 months of relentless hostilities, and after weeks of a total aid blockade, they are now left with little food, clean water and medical care. Famine may take hold among families already surviving on scraps,” said Jan Egeland, NRC Secretary General, on Tuesday.
“Gaza’s health system has collapsed. Only a handful of hospitals remain partially functional, overwhelmed and running out of supplies. Many wounded in last night’s strikes will find no medical care, as doctors struggle to treat the injured with no medicines, no equipment, and no fuel.”
Egeland called on governments to act now.
“Israel’s siege, bombardment, and killing of civilians cannot be met with more empty statements. States with influence must demand an end to the attacks and ensure that aid reaches Gaza immediately. Without intervention, more lives will be lost, and history will record their failure.”
The NRC Secretary General said: “A ceasefire is not just necessary—it is the only way to prevent further catastrophe.”
Since October 7, 2023, more than 49,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and more than 112,000 injured, most of them civilians. However, the real numbers are estimated to be much higher. Among the dead are at least 387 aid workers, 279 UN staff, 1060 health workers and 200 journalists.
Prior to the Israeli government's total blockade, humanitarian aid to Gaza had been obstructed by Israeli officials for more than a year, in gross violation of international humanitarian law and in apparent use as a method of warfare.
Israel's war in Gaza has been marked by a pattern of serious war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israeli military and government officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the situation in Gaza, after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November.
Some of the worst crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza include collective punishment of civilians, use of starvation as a method of warfare, denial of humanitarian aid, targeted killings of civilians, indiscriminate killing of civilians, disproportionate attacks, forced displacement, torture, enforced disappearances and other atrocity crimes.
A growing number of independent legal experts, international panels, and human rights organizations - including Amnesty International - have found that Israel's actions in Gaza against Palestinians as a group amount to genocide.
Genocide is a term used to describe violent crimes committed against a group with the intent to destroy the existence of the group, in whole or in part. According to the Genocide Convention, acts amounting to genocide include the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a group or part of a group.