Rabat – In the early hours of Tuesday, Israel launched a series of deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing over 400 Palestinians and effectively ending its ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
According to Palestinian health officials, hospitals in Gaza — already struggling after months of genocide and hostilities afterward — are overwhelmed with casualties. Medical workers warn that the death toll is expected to rise as they struggle to treat the wounded.
Israel had ordered the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, preventing Palestinian patients from seeking medical treatment abroad. The blockade on humanitarian aid and goods also remains in place, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
A video shared by Palestinians journalists in Gaza shows a horse-drawn cart carrying wounded Palestinians stumbling among the traumatizing chaos and causing the injured onboard to fall down.
“It’s cruelly painful to watch the video of the horse cart bumping into the hospital gate in north Gaza before the wounded banged on the ground. Because there is no damn fuel, no damn ambulances. Shame on me for watching this,” said Gazan poet and genocide survivor, Mosab Abu Toha.
White House secretary, Caroline Leavitt, confirmed that Israel had even consulted US President Donald Trump prior to the attacks and that he had authorized them, threatening all those he deemed “terrorists” in the Middle East.
“As president Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay, all hell will break loose,” said Leavitt, proudly.
Steve Wittkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, initially attempted to coerce Hamas into accepting a ceasefire proposal that favored the US-Israeli terms. The offer sought the release of Israeli hostages but did not guarantee a transition to the second phase of the original ceasefire agreement, which included the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Hamas rejected the deal, viewing it as an attempt to undermine their negotiating position. The development adds further strain to ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
“What happened with the Houthis yesterday ought to inform as to where we stand with the regard to terrorist actions,” Wittkoff said in reference to the massive US-led attack that killed at least 53 people in Yemen. “I would encourage Hamas to get much more sensible than they have been,” he threatened,
Notably, Hamas had already agreed to release Israeli-American soldier, Idan Alexander as well as the bodies of four other hostages holding dual citizenship, showing their willingness to cooperate and abide by the terms of the ceasefire.
Refusing to address its complicity in war crimes in Gaza and the amounting attacks on Palestinian human rights in the country, the US government continues to hone in on the the October 7 attacks by announcing, earlier on Monday, the launch “Joint Task Force October 7” in order to “focus on targeting, charging, and securing for prosecution in the United States the direct perpetrators of the October 7.”
On the heels of the recent Israeli airstrikes, Hamas accused “Netanyahu and his extremist government” of endangering the lives of its remaining hostages by resuming its assault on Gaza, further escalating tensions in the region.
Hamas also called upon people in Arab and Islamic nations, along with the “free people of the world” to mobilize and take to the street in solidarity with the Palestinian people and protest against the Israeli assaults.
While the families of Israeli hostages expressed shock over the apparent end of the ceasefire and fear over their relatives in Gaza, the impromptu attacks couldn’t have happened at a more convenient time for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was due to testify in his corruption case today.
