DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes struck targets in the Gaza Strip minutes after a week-long ceasefire expired Friday as the war with Hamas resumed in full force. Black smoke rose from the besieged area and Israel dropped leaflets over parts of the southern Gaza Strip urging people to leave their homes, suggesting it was preparing to expand its offensive.
Renewed hostilities heightened concerns about the approximately 140 hostages still in Gaza after more than 100 were released under the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, according to mediator Qatar, negotiators are continuing talks to resume the ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas traded blame for the ceasefire’s failure, each saying the other side had violated the terms of the ceasefire. Qatar, which acted as a mediator along with Egypt, expressed “deep regret” over the resumption of Israeli bombings and appeared to highlight Israel’s role in the resumption of violence.
The renewed fighting came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli officials and urged them to do more to protect Palestinian civilians as they try to destroy Hamas. Blinken arrived in Dubai on Friday for the COP28 climate talks, where he was scheduled to meet with Arab foreign ministers and other officials.
It was unclear to what extent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would heed appeals from the United States, Israel’s most important ally. Netanyahu’s office said Friday that Israel is “committed to achieving the goals of the war: releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again poses a threat to the residents of Israel.”
Just hours after the renewed offensive began, the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said 32 people had been killed and dozens injured.
In leaflets it dropped in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel urged people to leave their homes east of the town of Khan Younis. The leaflets also warned that Khan Younis was now a “dangerous battle zone”.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled the northern Gaza Strip at the start of the war, with many seeking refuge in Khan Younis and other places in the south.
Hamas released eight more Israeli hostages, and Israel released another group of 30 Palestinian prisoners as part of a last-minute deal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza for another day. (December 1st)
One of the first air strikes destroyed a large building in Khan Younis on Friday. Moments later, residents could be seen frantically searching the rubble for survivors as paramedics approached. One wounded person was carried away on a stretcher.
In Hamad City, a Qatari-funded housing development near the city, a strike hit an apartment in a multi-story residential building, while other parts of the building appeared largely intact.
Elsewhere, an attack hit a house near Gaza City in the north, and in Maghazi refugee camp, near central Gaza, rescuers fought through the rubble of a large building hit by warplanes. A foot stuck out of the tangle of concrete and wires.
Israel has said it is targeting Hamas militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties, accusing the militants of operating in residential neighborhoods. Since the war broke out on October 7 in response to a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel, many of those killed in Israeli bombings have been women and children.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands before a meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that “the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the first hours after the end of the pause complicates mediation efforts and deepens the humanitarian catastrophe” in the territory. It called on the international community to “act quickly to end the violence.”
In Israel, sirens blared at several communal farms near Gaza warning of incoming rockets, a sign that Hamas was also resuming attacks, but there were no reports of hits or damage.
After Israel’s missile defense systems were activated, plumes of white smoke could be seen in the sky over Sderot on the border with the northern Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said the war had resumed because Hamas had violated the terms of the ceasefire. “It failed to fulfill its commitment to release all female hostages today and fired rockets at Israeli citizens,” he said in a statement.
Palestinians visit their homes destroyed in the Israeli bombings in Al-Zahra on the outskirts of Gaza City, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
People watch as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s motorcade drives through the West Bank on Thursday, November 30, 2023. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
The Israeli military’s announcement that it would resume attacks came just 30 minutes after the ceasefire expired at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday. Early Friday, Israel accused Hamas of violating the terms of the ceasefire, including by firing rockets from Gaza into Israel.
The cessation of fighting began on November 24th. It initially lasted four days and was then extended by several days with the help of Qatar and its co-mediator Egypt.
During the week-long ceasefire, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians from prisons in Israel.
Virtually all of those released were women and children, but the fact that few such hostages remained in Gaza made it difficult to reach an agreement to extend the ceasefire.
Hamas, a militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years, was expected to exact a higher price for the remaining hostages, particularly Israeli soldiers.
Gal Tarshansky, who was released last night, sits with her father in an IDF helicopter en route from Hatzerim Air Base to Schneider Hospital in Israel, Thursday, November 30, 2023. (GPO/Handout via AP)
It was not immediately clear whether negotiators continued their efforts to reach another temporary ceasefire. Qatar and Egypt, which played key roles as mediators, had tried to extend the ceasefire for another two days.
On Thursday, Blinken met with Netanyahu and other top officials in his third visit to the region since the war began two months ago.
While Blinken expressed hope at the time that the ceasefire could be extended, he said that if Israel were to resume the war and move against the southern Gaza Strip to persecute Hamas, it would have to do so in “respect for international humanitarian law.” and “have a clear authorization plan in place” to protect civilians.
He said Israeli leaders understood that “the enormous scale of civilian life and the level of displacement that we saw in the north must not be repeated in the south.”
Most of Gaza’s population is now crowded into the south with no way out, raising questions about how an Israeli offensive there can avoid heavy civilian casualties.
Netanyahu faced intense pressure from the hostages’ families to bring them home. But his far-right government partners have also urged him to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and could abandon his coalition if it appears he is making too many concessions.
A total of 83 Israelis, including dual nationals, were released during the ceasefire, most of whom appeared physically healthy but shaken. Another 24 hostages – 23 Thais and one Filipino – were also released, including several men.
The 240 Palestinians released so far under the ceasefire have mostly been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. Several of the released women were convicted by military courts of attempting to attack soldiers, some of them found with scissors or knives near security positions.
Hamas began the war with a deadly attack on Israel on October 7 in which it and other Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and captured about 240 people. Authorities have only provided approximate figures.
Since then, Israel’s bombings and invasion of the Gaza Strip have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which makes no distinction between civilians and combatants. More than three-quarters of its 2.3 million residents have been displaced after weeks of Israeli bombing and a ground campaign, creating a humanitarian crisis.
The death toll is likely much higher as officials have updated the figure only sporadically since November 11. The ministry says thousands more people are dying under the rubble.
Israel says 77 of its soldiers were killed in the ground offensive. It claims to have killed thousands of militants without providing evidence.
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Mroue reported from Lebanon, Rising from Bangkok and Frankel from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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Complete AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war