At least 330 people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday as the Israeli military conducted “extensive strikes” on Hamas targets amid stalled truce talks, the biggest attack in the war-torn territory since the ceasefire began on January 19.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said the air strikes, which took place during the month of Ramadan, killed “mostly children, women, and the elderly” and injured about 150 people.

The explosions were heard in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.

Mahmud Abu Watfa, who headed Hamas’s police and internal security services in the Gaza Strip, was also reportedly killed in the strike on Gaza City.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a post on X this morning, said it was “conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip” in accordance with the “political echelon”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the strikes were ordered after “Hamas’s 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.”