More than 200 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-ruled enclave's Ministry of Health said, as Hamas accused Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the aerial attacks after Hamas’s “repeated refusal” to release the remaining hostages it holds. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 400 Palestinians, local health officials said, and shattering a ceasefire in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month war with Hamas.