GAZA CITY: Hamas said it remained open to negotiations while calling for pressure on Israel Wednesday to implement a Gaza truce after its deadliest bombing since the fragile ceasefire began in January.
Israel carried out fresh air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, killing 13 people according to the territory鈥檚 civil defense agency, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday鈥檚 raids were 鈥渙nly the beginning.鈥�
The United Nations and countries around the world condemned the high civilian death toll in the renewed strikes, which have killed more than 400 people, according to Hamas-run territory鈥檚 health ministry.
Hamas is open to talks on getting the ceasefire back on track but will not renegotiate the agreement that took effect on January 19, an official from the militant group said.
鈥淗amas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements,鈥� Taher Al-Nunu told AFP.
鈥淲e have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations.鈥�
Negotiations have stalled over how to proceed with a ceasefire whose first phase expired in early March, with Israel and Hamas disagreeing on whether to move to a new phase intended to bring the war to an end.
Instead, Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending stage one.
That would delay the start of phase two, which was meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and was swiftly rejected by Hamas, which demanded full implementation of the original deal.
鈥淭here is no need for new agreements in light of the existing agreement signed by all parties,鈥� Nunu said.

Israel and the United States have portrayed Hamas鈥檚 rejection of an extended stage one as a refusal to release more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu鈥檚 office said he ordered the renewed strikes on Gaza after 鈥淗amas鈥檚 repeated refusal to release our hostages.鈥�
In a televised address late Tuesday, the premier said: 鈥淔rom now on, negotiations will take place only under fire... Military pressure is essential for the release of additional hostages.
鈥淗amas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you 鈥� and them 鈥� this is only the beginning.鈥�
The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration before launching the strikes, while Israel said the return to fighting was 鈥渇ully coordinated鈥� with Washington.
The intense Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza and triggered fears of a return to full-blown war after two months of relative calm.
The roads were once again filled with Palestinian civilians on the move as families responded to evacuation warnings from the Israeli army.
鈥淭oday I felt that Gaza is a real hell,鈥� said Jihan Nahhal, a 43-year-old from Gaza City, adding some of her relatives were wounded or killed in the strikes.
鈥淪uddenly there were huge explosions, as if it were the first day of the war.鈥�
The Gaza health ministry said the bodies of 413 people had been received by hospitals, adding people were still under the rubble.
A spokeswoman for the UN children鈥檚 agency UNICEF said medical facilities that 鈥渉ave already been decimated鈥� by the war were now 鈥渙verwhelmed.鈥�

Governments in the Middle East, Europe and beyond called for the renewed hostilities to end.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel鈥檚 raids on Gaza 鈥渁re shattering the tangible hopes of so many Israelis and Palestinians of an end to suffering on all sides.鈥�
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she told her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar that the new strikes on Gaza were 鈥渦nacceptable.鈥�
Both Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside the United States, condemned Israel鈥檚 resort to military action.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the strikes were part of 鈥渄eliberate efforts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and force the Palestinians into displacement.鈥�
Trump has floated a proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza, an idea rejected by Palestinians and governments in the region and beyond, but embraced by some Israeli politicians.
Israel鈥檚 resumption of military operations in Gaza, after it already halted all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza this month, drew an immediate political dividend for Netanyahu.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which quit his ruling coalition in January in protest at the Gaza ceasefire, rejoined its ranks with its firebrand leader Itamar Ben Gvir again becoming national security minister.
The war began with Hamas鈥檚 October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel鈥檚 retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,577 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory鈥檚 health ministry.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.