WASHINGTON (TNND) — Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas Tuesday by launching an airstrike on the Gaza Strip killing at least 404 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he instructed the Israeli military to "take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip" after "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators."

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes responded to the strikes by saying Hamas "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war."

The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, and head toward the center of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon launch renewed ground operations.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The strikes also bring into question the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, said Netanyahu's decision to return to war is a "death sentence" for hostages.

"Netanyahu’s decision to return to war is a decision to sacrifice the prisoners... a death sentence against them," he said. Hamas said at least four senior officials were killed in Tuesday's strikes.

There have been no reports of any attacks by Hamas.

The strikes come two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war which saw Hamas release 25 hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

A second phase of the ceasefire has been in the works to release the 59 remaining hostages but the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward.

Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas' governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages.

Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.