Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu sit beside each other with Israel and US flags in background
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed on Monday that the Israeli government had informed the Trump administration prior to launching massive air raids on the Gaza Strip overnight.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health has reported that the latest assault by Israel has killed over 400 people with the majority being women, children, and the elderly.
“The Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight,” Leavitt told Fox News.
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran - all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America - will see a price to pay: all hell will break loose,” she added.
The overnight attacks on Gaza have shattered the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which was brokered by the US, Qatar, and Egypt and came into effect in January.
Hamas has said that it views the Israeli attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire.
International Outrage
The international community has expressed horror as Israel renews heavy bombardment across Gaza.
Jordan condemned the Israeli airstrikes as “aggressive and barbaric”. Egypt, which helped mediate the truce, called the bombing a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire that took effect mid-january.
Hezbollah has condemned the resumption of Israel’s “war of extermination” on Gaza.
“We affirm our full and steadfast support for the valiant Palestinian resistance and the honorable people of Gaza,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
France’s Foreign Ministry called for an immediate ceasefire and return to negotiations.
European Council President, Antonio Costa said on X, “Violence must stop and the terms of the ceasefire agreement must be respected”.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has condemned Israel’s renewed strikes saying he “can’t find the words to describe the situation in Gaza”.
Albares told Spanish broadcaster Onda Cero, “We must mourn and reject his new wave of violence and these new bombing which indiscriminately hit the civilian population”.
United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the “airstrikes and shelling which killed hundreds, are horrifying”.
“The last 18 months of violence have made abundantly clear that there is no military path out of this crisis,” Türk said, calling for a political settlement in line with international law. “Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”
UK-based humanitarian organization, Action for Humanity, has emphasized that the Israeli military campaign was “nothing short of genocidal”.
Action for Humanity demanded that the government of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “immediately take a bold and unequivocal stance against this latest atrocity and ongoing genocide”.
Read more from Al Jazeera here, and here, and from The Guardian here.