For nearly 60 days, Gaza people don’t have to count new deaths in a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas. Hostages and prisoners were released, food and supplies returned to the market, and people picked their way through the ruins they called home.
On Tuesday, after weeks of futile negotiations to expand the ceasefire, Israeli fighter jets bombed the city in the Gaza Strip and started over.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 400 people were killed during the strike, and their numbers did not distinguish between civilians and combatants. UNICEF said 130 of them had 130 children, and he reported that some of them had hit shelters where family members were sleeping.
After weeks of relative calm, Tuesday’s attacks seemed to catch many Gaza people off guard, including those who returned to abused communities and lived in close proximity. The result was one of the deadliest single-day tolls in the entire war, beginning with a 2023 attack on Israel’s Hamas-led attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped.
Israel’s military response destroyed Gaza, killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of towns. Day after day, month after month, survivors search for the injured and the dead.
They did so in the hours before Tuesday’s dawn in the wake of Israel’s latest air strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered a strike after Hamas “repeatedly refused” to release 59 hostages still in Gaza. It is believed that less than half of the people are still alive.
In his speech, Mr. Netanyahu suggested that Israel would continue to negotiate with Hamas. “This is just the beginning,” he said.
After the strike, some went to the Moorgs to identify missing relatives. Others wrapped the body in a shroud and hurriedly buried it. For most of the war, the death tradition of funeral parades and mourning tents became too dangerous to perform.
Many of the dead were buried in ordinary graves, courtyards and backyards, praying quickly and cover rather than under open sky.
Only a few hospitals in Gaza are still operating, and survivors are trying to provide any treatment for the injured.
Aid workers said the deceased and injured children included a large number of children. Although some injured children have left Gaza’s past medical services abroad, the border crossings are now closed. Those injured in this week’s attack can only seek help within the territory.
According to local officials, more than 48,000 people have been killed above Gaza since the beginning of the war. Palestinians mourn where they can, often outside hospitals or in wreckage of their houses.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it attacked sites and individuals with Hamas and another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
After arriving at the ceasefire, Hamas quickly reappeared in public, trying to show dominance over Gaza and inciting the meticulous release ceremony that angered the Israelites. In addition to Mr. Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas refused to release the hostages, the Israeli military said it attacked Gaza to prevent planned attacks on the Israelis.
On past shelters, Israel said militants used it as bases and tried to minimize harm to civilians. On Tuesday, the military attacked at least one tent house, and Khan Younis was displaced, a city in southern Gaza where thousands of people fled.
The first phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1 and the Israeli government began to increase pressure on the Gaza people, although neither Israel nor Hamas immediately resumed combat.
Food and fuel are once again scarce. The scalper’s bread is sold three times the original price, and there is no more gas from generators, ambulances or anything else.
The Israeli military has issued a new evacuation order warning Palestinians about communities suffering from strikes. The family packed again on Tuesday as they tried their best.
With the donkey pulling the cart, Palestinians who returned to Beit Hanoun, who had only been a few weeks ago, left again. Israel ordered evacuation in the area on Wednesday, warning residents about what it calls “fighting zones.”
Israel went deep into Gaza on Wednesday, saying its soldiers occupied part of a major corridor, opening the northern half of the enclave to the southern part. The military said its goal is to create a “partial buffer” there.
Aid workers warn that some wells are still operating in central Gaza, but they only provide salty and light water, which can lead to long-term health problems. Israel’s energy minister suggested that water could be cut off soon. Its foreign ministry insists that the territory has received enough aid and that Hamas is using the cargo.
Gaza has had little power since the first few days of the war, when Israel cut off sources in its initial reaction to the 2023 Hamas attack. Gazans has been in a power outage for months, and basic services in the region rely on solar panels and generators.
After another round of attacks, the panels become more valuable than ever.
But solar panels can only do a lot of things. Many Gaza people are still in the dark.
