Israel-Gaza latest: Trump ‘gave green light’ to strikes that killed 404 people

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Israel’s renewed strikes on Gaza and warned about the repercussions of military escalation, state news agency WAM reported.

After ordering renewed strikes on Gaza in which hundreds of people have been killed, Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US president Donald Trump for his “unwavering support”.

In broadcast remarks, the Israeli PM said: “I thank President Trump for his unwavering support for Israel. Our alliance with the United States has never been stronger.

“To those who criticise Israel, I ask, what would you do if terrorists murdered and kidnapped your children?Y ou would do what we are doing.In the face of pure evil, free societies have no choice but to fight.

“So, I want to assure all our friends around the world, Israel will fight and Israel will win. We will bring our people home and we will destroy Hamas. We will not relent until we achieve all these vital goals and we will not rest until we give our country a future of peace, prosperity and hope.”

The Israeli bombs began falling before dawn, lighting the sky with orange flares and shattering the stillness.

The surprise wave of airstrikes plunged Palestinians back into a nightmare they had hoped might be behind them.

The bombs crashed across Gaza early Tuesday, setting fire to a sprawling tent camp in the southern city of Khan Younis and flattening a Hamas-run prison. They hit the Al-Tabaeen shelter in Gaza City, where Majid Nasser was sleeping with his family.

“I went out to see where the bombing was. Suddenly the second strike happened in the room next to us,” he said. “I heard screaming, my mother and sister screaming, calling for help. I came and entered the room and found the children under the rubble.” Everyone was injured, but alive.

China and Russia’s envoys to the UN have spoken out against Israel’s strikes on Gaza.

Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has become “truly biblical in nature”, calling on Israel to immediately lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Chinese envoy Fu Cong strongly condemned the strikes, and echoed the need to restore humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Multiple UN figures, France, Norway, and a number of the Arab states have also joined in condemning Israel’s strikes.

Health officials in the Hamas-run strip said more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, which hit densely populated areas. In Rafah, in southern Gaza, 17 members of a single family were killed, including women and children.

The Israeli military said in a statement: “This preemptive offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes.”

Rachel Clun explains everything we know about the strikes, and what could happen next.

For Palestinian mother-of-five Rabiha Jamal, a life of fearing each minute for the safety of her children returned overnight.

“It was a night of hell. It felt like the first days of the war,” said Ms Jamal, 65, from Gaza City.

“We were preparing to have something to eat before starting a new day of fasting when the building shook and explosions began. We thought it was over but war is back,” she told Reuters.

More than 400 Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past day. The Israeli military has vowed to go further than air attacks and has ordered thousands of Palestinians near Gaza’s border with Israel to evacuate.

Chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:

Hospitals in Gaza have become desperately overwhelmed after an “absolutely terrifying” night of Israeli attacks, the head of emergencies at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has told The Independent.

Claire Nicolet, who is in Gaza, was woken last night by the “sounds of bombing, heavy bombing, it was absolutely terrifying”.

MSF teams are struggling without the knowledge of whether they can safely move around the Gaza strip, Ms Nicolet added, and the situation is “complicated for hospitals” which are “very overwhelmed”.

She added: “There is very poor access to health care, very poor access to shelter as everything is destroyed.

“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 [through] Rafah [border crossing with Egypt].

“This will not happen today and we don’t know how it will continue.”

Hamas said on Tuesday that communication with mediators and negotiators is ongoing, as Israel scales up its attacks on the Gaza strip.

The Palestinian militant group says it is keen to implement the next phase of the ceasefire deal, which has stalled after the two sides failed to agree an extension to the truce agreed in January.

Chief international correspondent Bel Trew writes:

It comes just two weeks after he ordered Israel to cut off all food, medicine, fuel, electricity, and other supplies to Gaza’s two million people to try and put pressure on Hamas to accept a new deal.

Mr Netanyahu has seemingly refused to bow to pressure from the families of the hostages to continue the truce and bring their loved ones home.