Israel has threatened 'total destruction' in Gaza as it issued what it calls a 'last warning' for Hamas to return the hostages and be removed from power. The Israeli military bombarded Gaza with heavy air strikes and launched a new ground operation on Thursday, shattering a relative calm that had pervaded since the ceasefire took hold in mid-January. The offensive, which began Tuesday, has killed more than 430 people, the Hamas-run healthy ministry in Gaza says. Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Thursday struck several homes and killed at least 58 people across the Gaza Strip, according to three hospitals.

Israel has threatened ‘total destruction’ in Gaza as it issued what it calls a ‘last warning’ for Hamas to return the hostages and be removed from power. The Israeli military bombarded Gaza with heavy air strikes and launched a new ground operation on Thursday, shattering a relative calm that had pervaded since the ceasefire took hold in mid-January. The offensive, which began Tuesday, has killed more than 430 people, the Hamas-run healthy ministry in Gaza says. Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Thursday struck several homes and killed at least 58 people across the Gaza Strip, according to three hospitals.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz overnight warned Gazans to take the 'advice' of President Donald Trump and echoed the American president's previous warning that failing to release the hostages would be fatal. 'Take the US president's advice. Return the hostages and remove Hamas and other options will open up for you, including leaving for other places in the world for those who desire. The alternative is total destruction and ruin,' Katz said. The renewed Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties yesterday to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza. A UN Office for Project Services employee was killed and at least five others were wounded when a UN building in the central city of Deir el-Balah was hit by 'explosive ordnance'. A British bomb disposal expert, 51, was among the injured, BBC reports.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz overnight warned Gazans to take the ‘advice’ of President Donald Trump and echoed the American president’s previous warning that failing to release the hostages would be fatal. ‘Take the US president’s advice. Return the hostages and remove Hamas and other options will open up for you, including leaving for other places in the world for those who desire. The alternative is total destruction and ruin,’ Katz said. The renewed Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties yesterday to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza. A UN Office for Project Services employee was killed and at least five others were wounded when a UN building in the central city of Deir el-Balah was hit by ‘explosive ordnance’. A British bomb disposal expert, 51, was among the injured, BBC reports.

A full investigation into the Wednesday morning attack will be needed, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general told the broadcaster. The name of the injured UK national has not yet been released. Israel resumed heavy airstrikes across Gaza on Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war. On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced it had resumed ground operations 'in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security perimeter and create a partial buffer between the north and south'. Hamas has yet to respond militarily, but Israel's actions threaten to drag the sides back into all-out war. The death toll from new Israeli strikes on Gaza has climbed to 58, according to hospitals in the territory. The latest total of those killed was according to three hospitals in different parts of the territory.

A full investigation into the Wednesday morning attack will be needed, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general told the broadcaster. The name of the injured UK national has not yet been released. Israel resumed heavy airstrikes across Gaza on Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war. On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced it had resumed ground operations ‘in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security perimeter and create a partial buffer between the north and south’. Hamas has yet to respond militarily, but Israel’s actions threaten to drag the sides back into all-out war. The death toll from new Israeli strikes on Gaza has climbed to 58, according to hospitals in the territory. The latest total of those killed was according to three hospitals in different parts of the territory.

Multiple homes were targeted in the middle of the night late Wednesday and early Thursday. The strikes hit residences in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials say. The European Hospital in the southern city of Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed in strikes on two family homes overnight. One of the strikes killed a father and his seven children, it said. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home. In northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital said it had received the bodies of seven people killed in a strike on a home in Beit Lahiya, a town near the border. The Israeli military also said it intercepted a missile launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Thursday before it reached Israeli airspace, as air raid sirens and exploding interceptors were heard in Jerusalem. No injuries were reported.

Multiple homes were targeted in the middle of the night late Wednesday and early Thursday. The strikes hit residences in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials say. The European Hospital in the southern city of Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed in strikes on two family homes overnight. One of the strikes killed a father and his seven children, it said. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home. In northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital said it had received the bodies of seven people killed in a strike on a home in Beit Lahiya, a town near the border. The Israeli military also said it intercepted a missile launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Thursday before it reached Israeli airspace, as air raid sirens and exploding interceptors were heard in Jerusalem. No injuries were reported.

It was the second such attack since the US began a new campaign of airstrikes against the rebels earlier this week. After Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as 'combat zones', families with young children filled the roads leading out of northern Gaza. Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, said the renewed strikes shattered the relative calm of the past two months. 'Now, we can feel the panic in the air... and we can see the pain and devastation in the faces of those we are helping,' he said. Addressing the 'residents of Gaza' - governed by Hamas since 2007 - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a video Wednesday night: 'This is the last warning.'

It was the second such attack since the US began a new campaign of airstrikes against the rebels earlier this week. After Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as ‘combat zones’, families with young children filled the roads leading out of northern Gaza. Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, said the renewed strikes shattered the relative calm of the past two months. ‘Now, we can feel the panic in the air… and we can see the pain and devastation in the faces of those we are helping,’ he said. Addressing the ‘residents of Gaza’ – governed by Hamas since 2007 – Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a video Wednesday night: ‘This is the last warning.’

He said that if they took Trump's advice, returned the hostages and removed Hamas from power that 'other options will open up for you - including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to'. He was apparently referring to a warning earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who said: 'To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!' Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack , 58 are still held by the terror group in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas says it is willing to negotiate and has called on the international community to act to bring the war to an end. An official from the group rejected, however, Israeli demands to renegotiate the three-stage deal agreed with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators.

He said that if they took Trump’s advice, returned the hostages and removed Hamas from power that ‘other options will open up for you – including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to’. He was apparently referring to a warning earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who said: ‘To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!’ Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack , 58 are still held by the terror group in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas says it is willing to negotiate and has called on the international community to act to bring the war to an end. An official from the group rejected, however, Israeli demands to renegotiate the three-stage deal agreed with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators.

'Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements,' Taher al-Nunu told AFP. Talks have stalled over how to proceed with the ceasefire, after the first phase expired in early March. Israel and the US have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending phase one. Hamas wants negotiations for phase two, meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while the remaining hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. 'Moving to the second phase seems to be a non-option for Israel,' said Ghassan Khatib, a political analyst and former Palestinian Authority minister. 'They don't like the second phase because it involves ending the war without necessarily achieving their objective of ending Hamas.'

‘Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements,’ Taher al-Nunu told AFP. Talks have stalled over how to proceed with the ceasefire, after the first phase expired in early March. Israel and the US have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending phase one. Hamas wants negotiations for phase two, meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while the remaining hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. ‘Moving to the second phase seems to be a non-option for Israel,’ said Ghassan Khatib, a political analyst and former Palestinian Authority minister. ‘They don’t like the second phase because it involves ending the war without necessarily achieving their objective of ending Hamas.’

Israel and Washington have portrayed Hamas's rejection of a phase one extension as a refusal to release more hostages. 'This was not an accident,' UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva said, adding that 'attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law'. At least 280 UN employees have been killed since the start of the war, according to the UN chief. UK foreign minister David Lammy said on X he was 'appalled' by the incident, which the NGO Mines Advisory Group said injured a British aid worker. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory blamed Israel, which denied striking the compound and later said the circumstances were being investigated.

Israel and Washington have portrayed Hamas’s rejection of a phase one extension as a refusal to release more hostages. ‘This was not an accident,’ UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva said, adding that ‘attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law’. At least 280 UN employees have been killed since the start of the war, according to the UN chief. UK foreign minister David Lammy said on X he was ‘appalled’ by the incident, which the NGO Mines Advisory Group said injured a British aid worker. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory blamed Israel, which denied striking the compound and later said the circumstances were being investigated.

Thousands of Israeli protesters massed in Jerusalem, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of resuming strikes on Gaza without regard for the safety of the remaining hostages. 'We want him to know that the most important issue is to get the hostages back,' said 67-year-old Nehama Krysler. Early Thursday, Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels - who have launched attacks claiming solidarity with the Palestinians - said they fired a missile at Israel, which the military said was intercepted. The war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Thousands of Israeli protesters massed in Jerusalem, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of resuming strikes on Gaza without regard for the safety of the remaining hostages. ‘We want him to know that the most important issue is to get the hostages back,’ said 67-year-old Nehama Krysler. Early Thursday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels – who have launched attacks claiming solidarity with the Palestinians – said they fired a missile at Israel, which the military said was intercepted. The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

At least 470 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed large-scale air strikes overnight from Monday to Tuesday, the Gaza civil defense agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Wednesday. The agency reported 14 members of the same family killed in an Israeli strike in the north. As of Monday, before the intense strikes resumed, the overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the war stood at more than 48,570, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

At least 470 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed large-scale air strikes overnight from Monday to Tuesday, the Gaza civil defense agency’s spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Wednesday. The agency reported 14 members of the same family killed in an Israeli strike in the north. As of Monday, before the intense strikes resumed, the overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the war stood at more than 48,570, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk