As families in Gaza slept early Tuesday morning, the Israeli military, with the support of the White House, bombarded the territory without warning, killing at least 404 Palestinians, including at least 174 children.

As horrifying images and accounts of maimed children and grieving mothers circulate online, media outlets in the U.S. spent the day trying to make sense of one of the most brutal single-day bombings of Israel’s war on Palestinians in Gaza.

Some explained Israel’s deadly airstrikes as a natural result of “fruitless negotiations” with Hamas, or as a bargaining tactic to “increase pressure on Hamas.” Other outlets simply repeated, without question or skepticism, Israeli and U.S. government claims that blame Hamas for the strikes.

“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told reporters.

Crucially missing from such coverage, however, is the fact that leading up to Tuesday’s attacks, Israel had repeatedly violated terms of the ceasefire deal it agreed to in January. With support from the Trump administration, Israel refused to withdraw its soldiers from Gaza, as was required in the agreement. It continued its military operations and bombings, and it blocked humanitarian aid and electricity from entering the territory where more than 2 million Palestinians live, which amounts to violations of international humanitarian law.

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