India has expressed deep concern over the escalating situation in Gaza following the most intense Israeli airstrikes since the fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19. More than 400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed on Tuesday, March 18.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on Wednesday, March 19, emphasising the importance of releasing all hostages and ensuring continued humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

“We are concerned at the situation in Gaza. It is important that all hostages are released,” the MEA said, also calling for the supply of humanitarian aid to be sustained.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conducted extensive strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza. The IDF’s post on X said, “In accordance with the political echelon, the IDF and ISA are currently conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip.”

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.”

“The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” it posted on X.

Israel would now act with “increased military strength” against Hamas, it said.

In contrast, Hamas accused Israel of breaking the nearly two-month-long ceasefire agreement and putting captives in Gaza at risk.

The ceasefire talks stalled as Israel sought to extend the first phase of the agreement, while Hamas insisted on moving to the second phase, which was initially scheduled to begin on March 2.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas had freed 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. Despite this, Hamas still holds around 59 Israeli hostages. The previous truce in November 2023 allowed for hostages to be released in exchange for prisoners.

The war’s only previous truce took place in November 2023 for a week when Hamas released hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The Gaza war began with a deadly Hamas-led raid on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages.

In retaliation, Israel’s military actions have led to the deaths of over 48,000 Palestinians and injured more than 112,000, according to reports.