The Sultanate of Oman has denounced the air strikes launched by the Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip since Monday.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, the Sultanate of Oman affirmed that these systematic crimes against the Palestinian people constitute a clear and blatant violation not only of the ceasefire agreement signed in January but also of all international norms and international humanitarian law. It requires urgent intervention by the international community to put an end to this brutal aggression against humanity, protect civilians and hold the occupying state of Israel accountable for its actions.
Earlier, Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, in an onslaught across the enclave that ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.
Israel and Hamas accused the other of breaching the truce, which had broadly held since January, offering respite from war for the two million inhabitants of Gaza, where most buildings have been reduced to rubble.
Hamas accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting but the group made no threat of retaliation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension during faltering talks.
The strikes hit houses and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the border line, witnesses said. Gaza's health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted.
"It was a night of hell. It felt like the first days of the war," said Rabiha Jamal, 65, a mother of five from Gaza City, who said her building shook as the explosions began.
Families in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and eastern areas of Khan Younis in the south fled their homes, some on foot, others in cars or rickshaws, carrying some of their belongings after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders warning the areas were "dangerous combat zones".
Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire deal along with the US, condemned the Israeli assault.
The UN emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the "modest gains" made during the ceasefire had been destroyed. He said humanitarian aid and commercial essentials must be allowed to enter Gaza. Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza for over two weeks, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.
In Gaza, witnesses said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the south. Bewildered children sat next to bagged-up belongings, ready to flee north again having returned to Rafah with the ceasefire.
In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood were stacked up as casualties were brought in. The health ministry said many of the dead were children, and 562 people were injured.
Among the Hamas officials killed in the air strikes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the head of the Hamas-run security services, Hamas said.
As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have pressed on with an operation in the occupied West Bank and Israeli jets have struck targets in southern Lebanon and Syria in recent days. SEE ALSO P5
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
