At least 326 Palestinians have been killed as Israel launched a massive assault on Gaza, shattering the fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas, according to Al Jazeera.

Tuesday’s attack took place across Gaza, including in Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, Gaza City in the north, and central areas like Deir el-Balah.

Many of those killed in the attacks were children, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said.

Palestinian Health Ministry said that “326 martyrs arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals so far”, adding that “a number of victims are still under the rubble”.

Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it viewed Israel’s attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire that began on January 19.

“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement. It called on people in Arab and Islamic nations, along with the “free people of the world”, to take to the streets to protest the assault.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to take “strong action” against Hamas over its refusal to release captives taken from Israel or agree to offers to extend the ceasefire.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Telegram that it was conducting “extensive strikes on terror targets” belonging to Hamas.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Israel had consulted with United States President Donald Trump about the strikes.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group accused Israel of “deliberately sabotaging all efforts to reach a ceasefire”.

‘Remains of their children’ in their hands

Ahmed Abu Rizq, a teacher in Gaza, said he and his family woke up to the sound of “Israeli strikes everywhere”.

“We were frightened, our children were frightened. We had many calls from our relatives to check, to check [on] ourselves. And the ambulance started to run from one street to another,” Abu Rizq told Al Jazeera, adding that families started to arrive at the local hospital with the “remains of their children” in their hands.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the strikes were concentrated on heavily built-up neighbourhoods, makeshift schools and residential buildings where people have been sheltering.

“We have heard in the past hour a clear presence of Israeli drones and fighter jets across the skies in the central area and we understand that among those who were found as victims during the attack were newborn babies, children, women and the elderly,” Abu Azzoum said, adding that several high-ranking Hamas officials had also been killed.