ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Multiple regional countries condemned Israel’s Tuesday strikes on Gaza - the deadliest since a January ceasefire.

 

Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and Jordan condemned Israel's strikes that have claimed over 400 lives, according to the latest tally published by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the operation was ordered after "Hamas' repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.

 

Hamas warned the Israeli government that the return to fighting could be a "death sentence" for hostages still alive in Gaza.

 

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned the attack in a phone call with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, Erdogan stressed the international community should say "stop" to Netanyahu's genocidal policy, and that it was important to re-establish the ceasefire as soon as possible

 

In addition, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “as Turkey, we emphasize once again that we will continue to stand by the Palestinian people in their just cause and support efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region,” accusing Israel of “challenging humanity by violating international law and universal values in the most severe way.”

 

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the strikes a "continuation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing."

 

Egypt meanwhile, a mediator alongside Qatar and the US who oversaw the implementation of the ceasefire, reiterated “its complete rejection of all Israeli attacks aimed at re-igniting tension in the region and thwarting efforts to calm the situation and restore stability,” according to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry.

 

Egypt’s statement called on the international community to “intervene immediately to halt the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, to prevent the region from relapsing into a renewed cycle of violence.”

 

Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed Momani called the offensive a “barbaric bombing of the Gaza Strip,” stressing the need to stop the attack. 

 

The first phase of the Israel-Hamas fragile ceasefire, which expired in early March, halting more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, saw the release of 33 hostages by Hamas and around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners by Israel.

 

A second phase of that deal was supposed to secure the release of dozens of hostages still in Gaza and pave the way for a more permanent end to the war, but both sides reached a deadlock, unable to agree on the next steps for ceasefire talks.