As Israel's military
announced that it has restarted combat operations against Hamas, heavy fighting
was reported in Gaza on Friday. The Israeli military had accused the
Palestinian militant group of breaking a brief truce by firing towards Israeli
territory.
The seven-day cease-fire,
which started on November 24 and was twice extended, had made it possible to
swap hundreds of Palestinian inmates for dozens of hostages held in Gaza and to
get humanitarian aid into the devastated coastal strip.
An hour prior to the
ceasefire's scheduled expiration at 0700 GMT, Israel declared that it had
successfully intercepted a missile fired from Gaza.
Only minutes before the
deadline, further sirens warning of rockets sounded in Israeli areas near Gaza,
according to the military.
Hamas did not immediately
respond to requests for comment or to take credit for the missiles.
Following the truce's
expiration, Israeli air and artillery strikes were reported by Palestinian
media throughout the enclave, notably in Rafah, which is close to Egypt's
border.
The Israeli military
acknowledged that its aircraft were hitting Hamas locations in Gaza.
Pictures on social media
appeared to show thick clouds of black smoke billowing over Gaza's heavily
populated Jabalia camp.
In reaction to the
militant group's October 7 onslaught, during which Israel claims gunmen killed
1,200 people and kidnapped 240 more, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which
controls Gaza.
Israel launched a ground
invasion and heavy bombardment in retaliation. The UN-respected Palestinian
health authority report that over 15,000 Gazans have been proven deceased.
HOSTAGES HEAD HOME
Qatar and Egypt had been
making intensive efforts to extend the truce following the exchange on Thursday
of the latest batch of eight hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel had previously set
the release of 10 hostages a day as the minimum it would accept to pause its
ground assault and bombardment.
Thursday's releases
brought the totals freed during the truce to 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian
prisoners.
Six women, ages 21 to 40,
were among those released; these included 21-year-old Mia Schem, an Israeli-French
dual national, and one Mexican national.
The Israeli prime
minister's office posted photos of Schem hugging her mother and brother upon
their reunion at the Hatzerim military installation in Israel. Schem was among
the group of people arrested by Hamas on October 7 at an outdoor music event in
southern Israel.
The Israeli prime
minister's office said that the other two recently freed hostages were a
brother and sister, Belal and Aisha al-Ziadna, who were 17 and 18,
respectively. They are among four family members who were kidnapped while
milking cows on a farm and are Bedouin Arab citizens of Israel.
One of Qatar's lead
negotiators, career diplomat Abdullah Al Sulaiti, who helped broker the truce
through marathon shuttle negotiations, acknowledged in a recent Reuters
interview the uncertain odds of keeping the guns silent.
"At the beginning I
thought achieving an agreement would be the most difficult step," he said
in an article that detailed the behind-the-scenes efforts for the first time.
"I've discovered that sustaining the agreement itself is equally
challenging."
Source: Reuters
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