322 Palestinians killed, missing in 5 hours as Israel resumes genocide in Gaza

The Gaza local authorities on Tuesday morning said that over 322 Palestinians were killed and missing in a matter of five hours across the Gaza Strip as Israel resumed its genocide, breaking the ceasefire that lasted nearly two months.

The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the largest since a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas took effect on Jan. 19.

In a statement, the Gaza Government Media Office said entire families are among the victims, who were killed together in the Israeli attacks, noting that the ambulances and civil defense teams are unable to bring all victims to hospitals.

"These brutal massacres confirm once again that the Israeli occupation army only knows the language of killing, destruction, and genocide," the statement said.

It added that the resumption of the massacres in Gaza comes along with the ongoing suffocating siege imposed on Gaza and the complete closure of the crossings, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and depriving over 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza of the basic necessities.

The media office urged the international community, including the UN Security Council and rights groups, to break the state of inaction and immediately act to ensure an end to these massacres in Gaza.

Earlier, the Israeli army said it is attacking Hamas targets in the Strip "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."

The Hamas group, for its part, said the Israeli government has declared war on Gaza by breaking the ceasefire agreement.

"We demand that the mediators hold Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement," it said in a statement.

Despite the ceasefire, local authorities in Gaza had reported almost daily violations by the Israeli army.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 48,500 Palestinians since October 2023, most of them women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.