Gaza Ceasefire Broken as Rishi Sunak Prepares to Meet World Leaders

The short-lived ceasefire in Gaza was broken this morning as Israel accused Hamas militants of breaking their agreement to release all hostages.

Israel fired more rockets at Gaza today, shattering the week-long truce and any hope of a peaceful resolution. Since strikes resumed today, Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said that 50 Palestinians have been killed.

The conflict which began after Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds at an Israeli music festival on October 7, has seen around 14,800 Palestinian lives lost in Gaza, including 6,000 children.

Israel vowed to abide by a ceasefire provided Hamas released all captured hostages. While footage taken by the Red Cross and other UN groups shows disturbing footage of numerous hostages being handed over to officials, including 6 more last night, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said the group is still retaining some women and children:

“With the resumption of fighting we emphasise: The Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war – to free our hostages, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never pose a threat to the residents of Israel,’’ Netanyahu’s office stated.

Hamas failed to send Israeli officials a list of at least 10 women and children they will agree to set free by 7am this morning, which ended the ceasefire.

While Israel has urged civilians to leave Gaza via safe routes its military has established for refugees, civilian casualties continue to amass in the region. The World Health Organisation (WHO) described the scene outside a Gaza hospital as being ‘’like a horror movie’’.

In a post to social media, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he ‘’deeply regrets’’ the commencement of fighting in Gaza, adding that the ‘’return to hostilities only shows how important it is to have a true humanitarian ceasefire’’.

It comes after shocking footage showed freed hostages high-fiving masked Hamas gun-men last night as they were loaded onto Red Cross trucks bound for Egypt. One young woman waved a goodbye to her former capturers while another woman smiled at the masked men as she uttered ‘’peace be with you’ in Arabic.

It seems many of the hostages feel confused about the ordeal they endured at the hands of Hamas. One 85-year-old Israeli hostage described how she was beaten and dragged away by the masked gunmen:

‘’I went through hell,’’ she said, before explaining that she chose to shake her capturer’s hand as she was released ‘’because they treated us very nicely’’.

The elderly woman went on to describe how Hamas had provided the roughly 240 captives with medical attention, a meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pitta and even shampoo and conditioner for women.

Others tell a different story altogether. 84-year-old Alma Abraham was rushed to hospital in a ‘critical condition’ after her release on Sunday. Doctors said the woman had not received proper medical attention:

‘’She’s being treated in our emergency department after serious neglect for the last several weeks while being held by Hamas,’’ said head of Soroka hospital, Shlomi Codish.

Another freed hostage, a young woman, appeared grimacing in pain as she limped away from her capturers on crutches.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak told Sky News today that he is ‘’having meetings with world leaders in a matter of hours to discuss the situation’’ and that he wants to see ‘’sustained humanitarian pauses so that more aid can get into Gaza and that hostages can come out’’.

‘’Everyone needs to adhere to the terms of these agreements,’’ he added.