‘I don’t know how I’m breathing’ — Israel kills over 400 Palestinians, shattering ceasefire in night of intense airstrikes

Shattering a fragile ceasefire that lasted barely two months, Israeli warplanes launched an intense bombardment campaign in the early hours of Tuesday morning, striking Palestinians’ homes and tents across the Gaza Strip and killing over 250 people, according to authorities.

The major breach of the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday followed days of negotiations in which Israel, with backing from the United States, sought to alter the course and terms of the truce deal by pressuring Hamas to expedite the release of the remaining prisoners it holds in Gaza.

In the hours following the wave of airstrikes, footage published online showed courtyards and corridors at the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis and Gaza City’s Shifa Medical Complex filled with the bodies of those killed. Neighborhoods that families and civil defense teams had worked to clear of rubble after over a year of war were once again covered with concrete blocks, twisted metal and dust.

Medical staff transferred 404 dead and over 562 of the injured to hospitals across the strip. Many of those injured were in critical condition, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Tuesday morning.

Palestinians in Gaza described to Mada Masr the shock of the return of war.

The missiles began to fall at around 2 am, several people in Deir al-Balah told Mada Masr. 

“We were sleeping at home and woke to prepare for suhur, lighting a fire to prepare food,” said Maha al-Akhras, a resident of Deir al-Balah. “Then, in an instant, the world went black and there were rockets and rubble falling on our heads. Thank God he allowed us to survive. I don’t know how I’m breathing, how I am still alive with all this rubble on top of our home.”

Another man from the neighborhood said his neighbors were killed in the attack. “The owner of the building had the house collapse on her — all the children were sleeping inside. They were all 15 or 16 years old. What had they done to deserve this?”

Why did Israel return to war? 

Announcing their renewed aggression on Tuesday morning, Israeli officials cited Hamas’s refusal to release the 59 people it is still estimated to hold in the strip, a proposal that Israel and the United States have pushed in recent days outside the pathway established in January’s ceasefire agreement.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Tuesday morning, saying that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had instructed the military to “to take strong action” against Hamas in the strip following its “repeated refusal to release" Israeli prisoners and "its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and the mediators.”

Witkoff proposed extending the first phase of the ceasefire agreement by around six weeks, during which Hamas would release half of the prisoners it still holds.

Hamas stated on Saturday that it had agreed to what Witkoff called a “bridge proposal,” under which it would release US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four deceased prisoners, provided that negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire began.

Both Israel and the United States threatened force if Hamas did not comply with the releases, with Witkoff calling Hamas’s response “completely unacceptable” on Sunday.

“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told the Israeli media.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on January 19, ended in early March without an agreement on implementing the second phase of negotiations.

But instead of advancing to the next phase, Netanyahu announced a total blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of all goods and supplies to over 2 million Palestinians while demanding the release of those still held in the strip.

Since Israel launched its aggression on Gaza in October 2023, it has killed over 48,577 Palestinians and wounded over 112,041.

During the two months of the ceasefire, it has continued to conduct drone and artillery strikes that have killed at least 170 people, a health official in the strip told Mada Masr earlier this week.