Israel Resumes Strikes on Gaza, Killing Hundreds, as Cease-Fire Breaks Down

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the aerial attacks after Hamas’s “repeated refusal” to release the remaining hostages it holds. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

Israeli forces launched deadly aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, ending a temporary cease-fire with Hamas that began in January and raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

More than 400 people, including children, were killed in the strikes, Gaza’s health ministry said. Those numbers did not distinguish between civilians and combatants — but the relentless Israeli bombardment produced one of the war’s deadliest single-day tolls.

The attacks came after weeks of fruitless negotiations aimed at extending the fragile cease-fire, which paused 15 months of devastating fighting in the territory. The truce’s first phase expired in early March, but it had largely held as diplomats worked to broker an extension to free the surviving Israeli hostages and end the war.

The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said he had ordered the military operation after Hamas’s “repeated refusal” to release the remaining captives seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel and the bodies of those hostages who have died. Of the 59 remaining in Gaza, fewer than half are believed to be alive.

In an address later on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu suggested that more Israeli attacks in Gaza were coming and would be carried out in tandem with negotiations with Hamas.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We will keep fighting to achieve all of the war’s objectives.”