Palestinian health authorities have raised the death toll from the Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

Tom Ambrose, Yohannes Lowe, Martin Belam, Kate Lamb and Helen Livingstone, The Guardian, 18 Mar 2025

Gaza’s health ministry said on Telegram the death toll from the airstrikes was 404, raised from 326. It gave the slightly higher figure of 413 on its WhatsApp channel.

Gaza’s health ministry has said over 660 injured Palestinian people have arrived at hospitals with many other victims of the airstrikes thought to be buried under rubble.

The Red Cross said many medical facilities in the Gaza Strip were “overwhelmed” in the aftermath of the attacks.

“What we heard from Palestine Crescent colleagues this morning is that many medical facilities are literally overwhelmed across Gaza,” Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said at a briefing in Geneva.

Amid an ongoing aid block aid imposed by Israel, health facilities in Gaza are reporting shortages of basic medical supplies needed to treat injured people, such as painkillers.

Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday demanded immediate international action to compel Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire, abide by the Gaza ceasefire agreement and return to negotiations.

Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza, killing more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said earlier, threatening the complete collapse of a two-month ceasefire as Israel vowed to use more force to free hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

There are reports of the Israeli airstrikes killing entire families in Gaza overnight (see post at 09.30).

Momen Qoreiqeh, who said he survived an attack in Gaza City that killed 26 relatives, has recalled his horrifying and devastating experience to Al Jazeerawhile at a hospital in Gaza City.

He said:

I was with all of my family and suddenly there was a big attack against our residential block.

The attack killed so many people from my family, some of whom we still haven’t recovered from under the rubble…

So far we’ve managed to recover about 26 bodies from my family and 20 other people who were with us.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) has released the following joint statement:

The IDF and ISA are continuing to strike terror targets belonging to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across Gaza. 

The targets struck over the past few hours include terrorist cells, launch posts, weapons stockpiles, and additional military infrastructure used by these terror organizations to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.

As a reminder, Gaza’s health ministry said many children and women were among the Palestinian people killed in the wave of airstrikes launched by Israel on the territory overnight.

More than 400 people have been killed in the attacks with hundreds more injured in hospitals, according to officials.

Palestinians flee Gaza neighbourhoods following Israeli evacuation orders – in pictures

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinian people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south (namely Khirbet Khuza’a, Abasan al-Kabira and Abasan al-Jadida) and head toward the centre of the territory.

Here are some of the latest images of Palestinians, many of whom have only just recently returned to their devastated homes during the brief ceasefire period, fleeing Israeli bombardments again:

Why has Israel decided to launch the huge wave of deadly airstrikes on Gaza now?

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that he ordered the airstrikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the attacks were open-ended and are expected to expand.

The Guardian’s international security correspondent, Jason Burke, has written up a useful explainer about other reasons why the airstrikes were launched, with Netanyahu, still facing huge opposition from much of the Israeli public, emboldened by the Trump administration. Here is an extract from his story:

Israeli officials say targeting the Hamas leadership, which has re-emerged in recent weeks to again take control of Gaza, will bring about the release of more hostages. Many hostage families in Israel dispute this.

More practically, Israel now has capabilities it lacked six weeks ago. Ammunition stocks have been replenished – partly due to US deliveries – and new potential targets among Hamas’ leaders identified. Planes and other equipment have been repaired. Troops have been rested…

Netanyahu needs support from rightwing allies to win crucial votes in Israel’s parliament in coming days and weeks, and to maintain his grip on power. These allies have fiercely opposed a permanent end to hostilities in Gaza, with one resigning from his ministerial post in protest at the January ceasefire. This vital support is now assured – at least in the short term.

Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption. If found guilty, he could face prison. On Tuesday, a court approved Netanyahu’s request not to appear at a hearing on Tuesday “due to the renewal of the war”, Israeli media reported.

On Sunday, Netanyahu announced he would seek to dismiss the head of the Israeli’s internal security service. This has been seen as a further attempt to override democratic checks in Israel and big protests are expected later this week. These can now be portrayed as unpatriotic by Netanyahu’s supporters.