Washington: The brutal and terrible carnage Israel unleashed on a population that returned to some peace under ceasefire promises has the complete support of US President Donald Trump, the White House informed. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump "fully supports" Israel's deadly resumption of air and ground offensive across Gaza, Agence France-Presse reported.
Leavitt claimed it was Hamas's actions that prompted Israel to violate the ceasefire, adding that the situation was completely the fault of Hamas.
AFP quoted Leavitt, "He fully supports Israel and the IDF and the actions that they've taken in recent days."
She said that Trump had made it clear to Hamas that if the armed group did not release all of the hostages, "there would be all hell to pay, and unfortunately, Hamas chose to play games in the media with lives," AFP quoted.
She said that Trump wanted all the hostages in Hamas's captives to be released.
According to the Gaza Civil Defence Agency, 504 people were killed in an overnight series of air strikes on the enclave by Israeli forces early on Tuesday. The count includes 190 children. This was after two months of ceasefire that served as a relief for Gazans.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that it had fired rockets at Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv on Thursday as a response to the Tuesday offensive. Israel said that it closed off the territory's main north-south route and forces troops expanded the ground operations they resumed on Wednesday, AFP reported.