Israeli warplanes struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, shortly after a week-long truce expired, the military said as the war resumed in full force.
The Israeli air offensive reached the south of the enclave, including the community of Abassan, east of Khan Younis, according to the Gazan Interior Ministry, controlled by Hamas. Another attack hit a home northwest of Gaza City.
Residents said Israel dropped leaflets in some parts of the south urging evacuation of areas east of Khan Younis, which they referred to as a “dangerous combat zone.” The leaflets are another sign that Israeli forces are preparing to expand an offensive that until now has focused on the north.
Powerful and continuous explosions could be heard coming from the Strip and columns of black smoke could be seen. In Israel, air raid sirens were activated in three community farms near Gaza, suggesting that Hamas had also resumed its attacks.
Israel’s announcement came just 30 minutes after the fire ended at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday. Earlier in the day, authorities had accused Hamas of violating the terms of the temporary truce, including launching rockets into Israeli territory from the territory.
The pause in fighting, which began on November 24, was initially scheduled to last four days, but was extended for several more with the help of Qatar and Egypt, which acted as mediators.
During that week, Hamas and other insurgent groups in the enclave freed more than 100 hostages, mostly Israelis, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians from prisons in Israel.
Almost all of those who have regained freedom are women and minors, but the fact that few hostages from these groups remain among the captives in Gaza has complicated an agreement for a possible expansion.
Hamas, which has ruled the besieged territory for 16 years, is also expected to ask for a higher price for the remaining captives, especially in the case of Israeli soldiers. It is estimated that 140 hostages remain in Gaza.
Qatar and Egypt have tried to extend the ceasefire for two more days.
Israel’s main ally, the United States, has raised pressure to improve protection for Palestinian civilians when the campaign against Hamas resumes.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials on Thursday in his third visit to the region since the start of the war, sparked by Hamas’ deadly incursion into the south. From Israel.
Although he expressed hope that the truce could be extended, Blinken said that if Israel resumed its operations and advanced on the south of the enclave to pursue Hamas, it must do so “respecting international humanitarian law” and with “a clear plan” to protect the population. According to the official, Israeli leaders understood that “the massive level of civilian (casualties) and the scale of displacement that we saw in the north must not be repeated in the south.”
Israel once said it would maintain the truce until Hamas stopped releasing hostages and promised to resume its campaign against the insurgents.
Most Gaza residents are now crammed into the south, where there is no exit, raising questions about how the Israeli offensive on the area could avoid causing large numbers of civilian casualties.
A total of 83 Israelis, including dual citizens who appeared to be physically well, although shaken, were released during the temporary ceasefire. Another 24 hostages – 23 Thais and one Filipino – including several men, suffered the same fate.
It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are soldiers.
According to Israel, there are around 125 men held in Gaza. Before the truce, Hamas had freed four captives and the army rescued one more. Two others were found dead in the enclave.
During the October 7 incursion into southern Israel, Palestinian insurgents killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and captured about 240. Authorities have only offered approximate figures.
Since then, aerial bombardments and the Israeli ground campaign have claimed the lives of more than 13,300 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and minors, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is in the hands of Hamas and not difference between civilian victims and combatants.
More than three quarters of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants have had to leave their homes, causing a humanitarian crisis.
