CAIRO, March 18. /TASS/. The renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip constitute a violation of the ceasefire agreement and an alarming escalation that could lead to disastrous consequences for the entire region, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Egypt strongly condemns the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which killed more than 300 people, and considers them a serious breach of the ceasefire agreement and a critical escalation that could have devastating consequences for the entire region," the statement reads.

Cairo called on all concerned parties to show restraint in order to "give mediators a chance to broker a permanent ceasefire agreement" in the Palestinian enclave.

"The international community must act immediately to prevent the Middle East from plunging into a new cycle of violence," the statement added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on March 18 that a series of strikes had been carried out on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Barak Ravid, a reporter for the US news website Axios, wrote on the X social media platform, citing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, that Israel had restarted military operations against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

According to the latest data provided by the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll has exceeded 400, while over 562 more people were wounded.