GAZA: The resumption of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday sparked global condemnation, as at least 413 people were killed in the latest attacks on the Palestinian territory.
“So far, 413 martyrs have arrived in hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” the Gaza health ministry said in a statement. “A number of victims are still under the rubble, and work is underway to recover them.”
The strikes, the most intense since the truce began on 19 January, targeted areas across northern, central, and southern Gaza, including Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Gaza. “This horrific act of aggression, in the holy month of Ramadan, is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and marks a dangerous escalation that threatens to destabilize the entire region once again,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan urged the international community to play its role to immediately end the violence and resume diplomatic efforts towards an immediate and lasting peace in Gaza and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that it was concerned by what it called a large number of civilian casualties after Israel struck Gaza and hoped that peace would return.
“Undoubtedly, it’s another deterioration in the situation (in Gaza) and another spiral of escalation that is causing our concern,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Especially concerning of course are the reports of major casualties among the civilian population,” Peskov added.
Turkey also denounced Israel’s deadly strikes in Gaza as “a new phase” in its “genocide policy”, saying the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied humanity through its breach of international law.
“The massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel’s attacks on Gaza… demonstrates that the Netanyahu government’s genocide policy has entered a new phase,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said Gazans were being subjected to an “intolerable level of suffering” following the most intense Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect.
“Unfortunately, we are witnessing a situation in which we have an intolerable level of suffering for the Palestinian people, with the air raids that killed hundreds of people,” Guterres told reporters at the UN in Geneva.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, has said that the Israeli attacks “will add tragedy onto tragedy”, and that “Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions”.
Jordan government spokesman Mohammed Momani said: “We have been following since last night Israel’s aggressive and barbaric bombing of the Gaza Strip,” underlining “the need to stop this aggression”.
Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, condemned Israel’s strikes on Gaza and said there was a need for talks to resume to implement the phases of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The Egyptian foreign ministry called Israel’s deadly overnight air strikes on Gaza a “flagrant violation”.
The strikes constitute a “dangerous escalation which threatens to have bring serious consequences for the stability of the region.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while condemning the Israeli strike vowed that his country would provide any possible assistance. “This has been going on for a year and a half. Despite ceasefire attempts, the attacks on civilians, including women and children in Gaza, have not stopped,” he said.
Indonesia has also condemned Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. “These attacks are part of a series of Israel’s continued provocations that threaten the ceasefire and undermine prospects for peaceful negotiations toward a two-state solution,” stated Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Indonesia has urged the UN Security Council and the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel’s attacks.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store stated that the Israeli assault constitutes “a great tragedy” for the population of Gaza, many of whom “live in tents and the ruins of what has been destroyed”.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp in a post on X opined that “humanitarian aid must reach those in need, and all hostilities must end permanently”. Meanwhile, Switzerland called for “an immediate return to the ceasefire”.
In an interview with Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the US had been consulted by Israel on the latest assault, adding that Trump had “made it clear” that Hamas and “all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay”.
