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GAZA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli airstrikes on various places across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning have killed 413 and injured at least 562 Palestinians, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a press statement.
Later in the day, the Israeli military and Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said that they will continue to strike Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets across Gaza.
"At this time, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and Shin Bet are striking terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip," they said in a joint statement. "The targets struck over the past few hours include terrorist cells, launch posts, weapons stockpiles and additional military infrastructure."
WHAT DRIVES RENEWED ISRAELI STRIKES ON GAZA?
Palestinian political analyst Raed Najm told Xinhua that the Israeli military operation was not a surprise. Instead, it was preceded by a tightened blockade and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering, followed by intense bombing of the Gaza Strip, said Najm, adding that this led to the issuance of evacuation orders for residents in certain areas, indicating Israel's intention to carry out a new ground incursion into those areas.
Maged Botros, a political science professor at Helwan University in Egypt, echoed the view, saying that Israel had premeditated its airstrikes on Gaza and was looking for any excuse, as this was part of its plan.
Israel decided to launch a surprise attack on Hamas after the group ended negotiations and refused to compromise on Israeli and U.S. demands to proceed with the first phase of the proposed Gaza peace deal, Ido Zelkovitz, an Israeli expert on Middle East affairs and senior researcher at the University of Haifa, told Xinhua.
Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told Xinhua that intelligence reports also indicated that Hamas had been actively rebuilding its military infrastructure, setting up new explosives and preparing for potential future attacks.
Israel saw this as a direct threat to both its soldiers and civilians, particularly those living near the Gaza border, said Freeman.
There is also a U.S. hand in the attacks. Israel has been "fully coordinated" with the United States on the resumption of the intensive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, David Mencer, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that the return to intense fighting in Gaza has been fully coordinated with Washington. Israel has thanked President Donald Trump and his administration for their unyielding support for Israel," Mencer told a press briefing.
Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday that Washington's admission that it was informed in advance of the Israeli aggression confirms its direct complicity in the war against the Gaza people.
"The international community is called upon to take urgent action to hold the occupation and its supporters accountable for these crimes against humanity," it added.
HOW INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS REACTED?
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is shocked by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, calling for the ceasefire to be respected, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The Palestinian presidency on Tuesday condemned Israel's renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community and the U.S. administration to halt it.
Israel's killings demonstrate its attempt to undermine all efforts made by the international community to maintain calm and achieve security and stability in the region, Palestinian Presidency Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh was quoted by the official news agency WAFA as saying in a statement.
Iran, Egypt, Qatar and the Arab League on Tuesday strongly condemned the new round of Israel's deadly airstrikes against Gaza.
The Israeli move "represents a dangerous escalation that threatens to have severe consequences for the stability of the region," the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Qatari foreign ministry described the action as a challenge to international efforts to secure a ceasefire and warned that further escalation could destabilize the region and undermine security.
The Turkish foreign ministry warned that Israel's aggressive actions endanger regional stability at a time when international efforts for peace are gaining momentum.
Russia deeply regrets the resumption of Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
"Russia strongly condemns any actions that lead to the death of civilians and the destruction of social infrastructure," the ministry said in a statement.
China is closely following the ongoing situation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and hopes parties will work to enable the continuous and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
HOW PEACE TALKS WILL BE AFFECTED?
The escalation in Gaza undermines the foundations of the Gaza peace agreement and puts the region on the brink of a new confrontation, Palestinian political analyst Ismat Mansour told Xinhua.
Mansour believes that the current escalation has undermined the foundations upon which previous arrangements were based and has ended any talk of a ceasefire agreement.
The possibility of bringing the two sides back to the negotiating table depends on the mediators' ability to contain the escalation, but this largely remains contingent on Israel's stance, he said.
He noted that Israel's demands and conditions continue to expand, making any new agreement even more complex than the previous one.
The situation in the region has become more turbulent and volatile, Botros, the political science professor at Helwan University, told Xinhua.
"We are not merely experiencing instability -- we are witnessing a state of continuous transformation, where the tools of change are controlled by the United States and Israel, not by the Arabs or regional states," said Botros.
"Unfortunately, we are now in a position of reaction rather than action. Worse still, our reactions are neither proportional to the scale of the challenges nor effective enough. We are on the receiving end of strikes, reacting to reality rather than shaping it," he said.
"While military action typically complicates diplomatic efforts, in this case, it may actually serve to reinforce the urgency of negotiations," said Freeman.
Israel's strategy appears to be one of coercive diplomacy-applying military pressure to push Hamas toward accepting a deal that would facilitate a ceasefire and the release of hostages, he said.
"Given the current dynamics, the negotiations will likely continue, but under heightened tension. The key question is whether Hamas perceives the renewed military offensive as a reason to compromise or as justification to further entrench its position," he added. Enditem
(Emad Drimly in Gaza, Wang Zhuolun, Nick Kolyohin in Jerusalem, Dong Xiuzhu, Yao Bing in Cairo, He Yiping, Mohammed Ghazel in Amman, Chen Xiao, Farzam Vanaki in Tehran, Li Jun in Baghdad and Ji Ze in Damascus also contributed to the story)
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