JERUSALEM 

Israel planned the resumption of its war on the Gaza Strip since Eyal Zamir took office as the army's chief of staff, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday.

“As we promised, the IDF (army) returned to action with a powerful attack on Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas, returning all the hostages, and removing the threat posed by the Gaza Strip to Israeli citizens,” Smotrich said on his X account.

The Israeli army pounded the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 326 people and injuring hundreds, breaking a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.

Images emerging from Gaza showed that the majority of the victims were civilians, including women and children, whose homes were bombed during the night.

Smotrich said the Israeli attacks were a “gradual process that we have built and planned in recent weeks since the new chief of staff took office” which “will look completely different from what has been done so far.”

Zamir took office as the army’s new chief of staff in early March, succeeding Hervi Halevi, who led the military during Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave since October 2023.

On Monday, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said that Zamir approved military plans to resume the war on Gaza, including intensifying aerial strikes, expanding ground operations as well as vacating northern Gaza of its people.

More than 48,500 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.