US Says Hamas Solely to Blame for Resumption of Gaza Hostilities

 Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Says Hamas Solely to Blame for Resumption of Gaza Hostilities

 Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Responsibility for the resumption of hostilities in Gaza lies solely with Hamas, and the United States supports Israel in its next steps, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Dorothy Shea made the statement to a United Nations Security Council briefing after Palestinian health authorities said Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, ending weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.

"The blame for the resumption of hostilities lies solely with Hamas," Shea said, charging that the group had refused every proposal and deadline to extend the ceasefire and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire.

Shea said US President Donald Trump had made clear that Hamas must release the hostages it is holding immediately or pay a high price.

"We support Israel in its next steps," she said, while rejecting allegations that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were conducting indiscriminate attacks.

"The IDF is striking Hamas positions," she said. "It is well known that Hamas continues to use civilian infrastructure as launching pads, and the United States condemns this practice as should others."



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.