“Israel has thanked President Trump and his administration for their unyielding support.”
An Israeli official confirmed to the Telegraph that the offensive would “expand beyond air strikes” and “continue as long as necessary”.
The surprise attack killed several top Hamas officials, including Issam al-Da’alis, the long-serving prime minister.
Israeli media reported that the strikes were planned to take advantage of changed nighttime movement patterns during Ramadan.
Medical facilities overwhelmed
They left more than 400 people dead and nearly 600 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Red Cross said Gaza’s medical facilities were “overwhelmed”.
The White House gave the operation its full backing and blamed Hamas for not releasing hostages.
But hostage families expressed their horror at the resumed fighting, accusing the Israeli Government of “abandoning” their loved ones in favour of waging war.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military threatened to intensify strikes, including widening the operation beyond an aerial campaign, unless Hamas returned to “genuine” negotiations.
It came as the IDF ordered civilians in Gaza to evacuate certain zones on the outskirts of Gaza City and Khan Younis, suggesting a ground campaign could be imminent.
Hostages still held
Tanks and other military vehicles were photographed at the border fence.
Announcing the military operation, the Prime Minister’s office said the action had been taken “following Hamas’ repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all the proposals it has received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff from the mediators”.
Gideon Sa’ar, the Foreign Minister, said the strikes were necessary to break the impasse.
“In the past two and a half weeks, we have reached a deadlock – there is neither air strikes nor the return of hostages, and this is something Israel cannot accept,” he said.
An unnamed military source later said the aim of the operation was to push Hamas into accepting the Witkoff proposal, including an extended ceasefire and a greater influx of aid in return for the release of living hostages.
Thirty-three living hostages were released under the 42-day first phase of the deal, which ran from January 15.
In outline, phase two obliged Israel to withdraw all its troops from Gaza as a prelude to ending the war.
Netanyahu aims to defeat Hamas
But Netanyahu repeatedly stalled negotiations on these points because he said it failed to meet his war aim of defeating Hamas once and for all.
Witkoff tried to negotiate an alternative deal that roughly resembled a repeat of phase one, but Hamas refused because it did not address the group’s future in the strip.
The terror group issued a statement on Tuesday saying: “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate.”
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli hostage who was released in January, said she was “crushed and disappointed” by the resumption of fighting.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said: “The greatest fear of the families, of the hostages and of Israeli citizens has been realised.
“We are horrified, furious and scared by the intentional shattering of the process of returning our loved ones from the terrible Hamas captivity.
“The return to fighting before the return of the last hostage will cost us the 59 hostages who are still in Gaza and who can still be saved and returned.”
Netanyahu responded by saying: “All of our hearts are with the hostages and their families.
“They are going through an inhuman nightmare every day and every minute.”
Twenty-four of the remaining hostages are believed to be living.
Hundreds dead
As of mid-afternoon on Tuesday, 404 dead and 562 injured had been taken to hospitals, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with efforts under way to rescue people trapped in the rubble.
Pictures emerged of an apparent blaze at a tented encampment near Khan Younis as a result of the strikes, while others showed what appeared to be distraught civilians identifying loved ones.
Dr Mohammad Qishta, an MSF emergency doctor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, told the Telegraph‘s Battlelines podcast that the scene at the hospital was “disastrous”.
“We have received many bodies and parts of bodies,” he said. “Most of them children and women.”
Claire Nicolet, the head of emergencies for MSF, said from Gaza: “The population here is completely afraid.
“Of course, they saw that this is a full restart of the fighting and they are very scared of what’s next. Unfortunately, we also understood that the medical evacuation has stopped for now which means that normally every day there are a few patients that are going outside by Rafah.
“This will not happen today and we don’t know how it will continue.”
Leaders killed
The other prominent Hamas leaders killed in Gaza overnight were named as Bahjat Abu Sultan, Ahmad Omar al-Taha, Mahmoud Abu Wafteh and Abu Obaida al-Jimasi.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority were among Arab governments opposing the action.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said Israel’s “escalating policies will ultimately ignite the region and undermine its security and stability”. The Gulf state and Egypt said they were urgently trying to establish talks to halt the escalation.
Netanyahu is facing a huge controversy over his attempt to sack Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s internal security service, just as the organisation is conducting an inquiry into alleged Qatari spies in Netanyahu’s private office and what role that might have played in policymaking before October 7.
A large protest was planned in Jerusalem on Wednesday against the dismissal.
Politics denied
The Prime Minister criticised the press for “lies” and denied that any political considerations were behind the military operation in Gaza. He also praised the US for acting against Iran.
The resumption of the war has pleased Netanyahu’s far-Right coalition partners, upon whom he relies to stay in Government.
Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister, welcomed the strikes, promising that the renewed fighting will “look completely different from what has been done so far”.
Conversely, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who withdrew his Otzma Yehudit party from the coalition to protest against the hostage deal, announced his intention to rejoin the Government on Tuesday.
Yair Golan, a former IDF Major General and now leader of the Left-leaning The Democrats, said: “The soldiers on the front lines and the hostages in Gaza are just cards in Netanyahu’s game of survival.
“The protests must erupt in fury,” he said.
At a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Tuesday, Keith Siegel, a former Hamas captive, told the crowd: “When the previous ceasefire collapsed, one of the terrorists pointed a gun at me and started beating me. He was very angry and took all his anger out on me.”
