Israel-Gaza Ceasefire Collapses as Airstrikes Claim Over 400 Lives, Deepening Humanitarian Crisis
By EEW Magazine Newswire
Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israel army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. Photo by Hatem Khaled/REUTERS
JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY — Israel restarted airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, killing at least 404 Palestinians and shattering a two-month ceasefire, in what health officials call the deadliest day of the 17-month conflict.
The assault has reignited fears of all-out war, overwhelming hospitals and displacing millions, as international calls for peace grow louder amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The ceasefire, brokered by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar in mid-January, paused hostilities following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 and led to 250 hostages being taken. Intended to enable hostage releases and peace talks, the truce unraveled when Hamas rejected Israel’s demand to cede control without a war-ending pledge, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on military pressure, ordering strikes he described as “only the beginning.”
It’s increasingly difficult to see a way out of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas that has already seen thousands of civilians lose their homes, families and lives (Getty)
The White House backed Israel’s move, attributing the breakdown to Hamas, though some analysts question whether Israel ever intended a lasting peace.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports the majority of the 404 dead are women and children, with over 560 injured, as rescuers struggle through rubble with limited fuel. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Al-Shifa in Gaza City, staff tend to bloodied patients, while survivors hold hurried funerals.
“All of Gaza shook,” resident Ramez Souri told reporters, recalling the war’s early terror. With 90% of Gaza’s 2.1 million people displaced and aid cut off since early March, the territory teeters on collapse.
Globally, reactions vary. Qatar and Egypt, key mediators, decry the strikes as destabilizing, while Turkey labels them a “new phase in genocide policy.” South Africa, pursuing a UN genocide case, echoes this alarm. The UN’s acting relief chief, Sam Rose, pleads, “This can be stopped,” as Israel intercepts a Houthi missile from Yemen, signaling regional escalation. Hamas warns of risks to hostages, but no retaliation has occurred.
Families of the remaining Israeli hostages—about two dozen still enduring captivity—voice growing dread that the escalation threatens their loved ones, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum accusing Netanyahu of political abandonment. Critics speculate the strikes serve Netanyahu’s domestic agenda, though evidence remains inconclusive.
For EEW Magazine readers, this tragedy aligns with the biblical call to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15), urging compassion amid chaos.
