Hamas bears sole responsibility for renewal of Israeli strikes in Gaza, says US

Israel has vowed to continue fighting in Gaza until all hostages held in the Palestinian territory are returned

Palestinians abandon their homes in the northern Gaza Strip after renewed air attacks by the Israeli military on March 18. Reuters

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Hamas bears sole responsibility for the renewed bombing of Gaza, the US said at the UN on Tuesday, and Washington stands firmly behind its ally Israel.

“This brutal terrorist organisation has steadfastly refused every proposal and deadline they've been presented over the past few weeks, including a bridge proposal to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover to allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire,” Dorothy Shea, the interim US charge d’affaires at the UN, told the Security Council.

Israeli strikes on the enclave, by far the deadliest since the ceasefire came into force on January 19, began in the early hours of Tuesday and killed more than 400 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

Israel has threatened to continue fighting in Gaza until all hostages held in the Palestinian territory are returned. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the operation had been ordered in response to Hamas's “repeated refusal to release our hostages”.

Israel hits Gaza with air strikes

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Washington supports Mr Netanyahu's choice to unilaterally withdraw from the ceasefire US President Donald Trump took credit for brokering, and Ms Shea said he had made clear that Hamas must release the hostages it is holding immediately or pay a high price. She also affirmed US support for Israel in “its next steps”.

The Israeli military is striking Hamas positions, Ms Shea said. “It is well known that Hamas continues to use civilian infrastructure as launching pads, and the United States condemns this practice, as should others," she added.

A State Department representative told The National that Hamas was "delaying" the deal put forward recently US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and "forcing Palestinians to suffer the consequences".

"The pillars of our approach remain resolute: stand with Israel, stand for peace," the representative said.

Hamas, which has yet to respond militarily to the strikes, said that Israel is breaching the ceasefire and jeopardising the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages who are believed to be alive in captivity.

The UN aid chief told the Security Council that the “worst fears” for Gaza materialised overnight.

“Once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear,” Tom Fletcher said.

“I am distressed to report that in addition to the intense air strikes that have resumed, since March 2, Israeli authorities have cut off the entry of all life saving supplies for 2.1 million people,” said Mr Fletcher.

“Our repeated requests to collect aid sitting at Karem Shalom crossing [Karam Abu Salem crossing] have also been systematically rejected”.

Mr Fletcher said that the obstruction of food, water, and medicine supplies for those in need is “unconscionable” and contravenes international humanitarian law and the provisional orders of the International Court of Justice.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has become “truly biblical in nature” and he urged Israeli authorities to immediately end restrictions on humanitarian efforts in Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank.

But Jonathan Miller, Israel’s deputy ambassador, told Security Council members that reports that Gazans are starving are “simply not true”.

“If there is suffering in Gaza, it is not because of a lack of aid. It is because Hamas has hijacked an entire civilian population for its own violent ends,” he said.

“Hamas diverts food. Hamas hoards fuel. Hamas transforms hospitals, schools and UN facilities into command centres, ensuring that even in the presence of humanitarian aid, suffering persists.”

He said that during council meetings on Gaza, “Hamas is an afterthought, a footnote, a mere inconvenience in the preferred narrative”.

Willy Lowry contributed to this report from Washington