BBC Breakfast was interrupted on Tuesday (March 18) as Sally Nugent announced some “breaking news” minutes into the show.
The presenter announced that airstrikes had killed over 200 Palestinians across Gaza overnight, in what has been described as the deadliest wave of attacks since a ceasefire deal was reached in January.
“Sally’s got more of this morning’s news, including some big developments in the Middle East overnight,” co-host Jon Kay began.
“We have some breaking news to bring everybody this morning. is carrying out what it has described as extensive strikes in the Gaza Strip, in the largest wave of attacks since the ceasefire with Hamas began back in January,” Sally then revealed.
“Health officials in Gaza say more than 200 people have been killed overnight. The Israeli military says it was targeting terror targets belonging to Hamas,” she continued, before handing over to the ‘s Gaza correspondent Rushdi Abualouf.
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BBC Breakfast host Sally Nugent announced breaking news minutes into Tuesday’s (March 18) show (Image: BBC)
“It’s not a very good morning for about 2.3 million people in Gaza, they were up all night with the sound of explosions everywhere. Over 100 strikes, according to the Hamas-run media,” Rushdi explained.
“The latest figure from the Hamas-run health ministry is that 310 people [have been] killed, including more than 50 kids and 25 or 28 women among those killed.”
Rushdi said that most civilians were awake when the strikes began at just after 2am in the morning, as it is the holy month of Ramadan – where Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
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Israel airstrikes killed over 300 people overnight across the Gaza Strip (Image: BBC)
“They were suffering from a lack of food, water and fuel after cut off all supplies for the last two weeks, but they were at least enjoying a relative calm for 57 days since the ceasefire began,” Rushdi continued.
“But it all very quickly turned into a real war, as many of the people I spoke to last night and this morning described to me.”
The strikes began at 2.30am local time on Tuesday morning and hit densely populated urban areas, makeshift schools, residential buildings, and shelters housing displaced people in tents.
The Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “This preemptive offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes.”
Breakfast airs daily on One at 6am