Israel strikes Gaza, killing hundreds – 19 March 2025
Israel launched new overnight airstrikes on Gaza, killing more than 400 people, Palestinian health officials say.
Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Palestinians inspect damage following an Israeli airstrike in the Shejaiya residential district, east of Gaza City, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Israel launched overnight airstrikes across Gaza that Hamas said killed hundreds of people, shattering a nearly two-month ceasefire with the Palestinian group.
The attacks are the deadliest since a ceasefire (pause in fighting) was agreed in January, and targeted homes and shelters across the region.
Officials say that Gaza’s hospitals are overwhelmed, with too many wounded for doctors to help.
Israel said the strikes were in response to Hamas refusing to release hostages and rejecting parts of the deal that would extend the peace agreement. Hamas is the terrorist group that runs Gaza and is still holding 59 of the 250 hostages taken from Israel. They were illegally captured (taking hostages is a war crime) during a Hamas raid into Israel on 7 October 2023 that saw around 1,200 people killed. That was the incident that started the current fighting.
The situation has drawn global concern, with calls for attacks to stop due to the humanitarian crisis getting worse.
In response to the recent bombings, the United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said: “Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”
