CNN –
The Israeli military has resumed fighting against Hamas in Gaza after a week-long ceasefire to release hostages failed on Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had “resumed hostilities” and accused Hamas of initially violating the ceasefire by firing rockets into Israeli territory.
Smoke could be seen over parts of the densely populated enclave as the IDF declared it was once again “bent on the destruction” of Hamas.
A total of 109 people have been killed and hundreds more injured since military operations resumed early Friday, according to a spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
The resumption of fighting marks the end of a fragile ceasefire between the warring factions that allowed for the release of 110 Israeli women and children and foreign nationals taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack of about 240 Palestinian prisoners Israeli prisons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas “failed to fulfill its commitment to release all kidnapped women today and fired rockets at the citizens of Israel.”
His office said 137 people are still being held hostage in Gaza, including 117 men and 20 women. Two of the abductees were under 18 years old and ten were 75 years old and older, it said.
Netanyahu said his government remained committed to achieving its war goals, which he said included releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again posed a threat to Israelis.
The Hamas-controlled government media office in Gaza blamed the international community – and particularly the United States – for the resumption of fighting, saying they “bear responsibility for the crimes of the ‘Israeli’ occupation and the continuation of the brutal war against civilians.” . , children and women in the Gaza Strip.”
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With the resurgence of fighting, there was an expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza, which until now had mainly been concentrated in the north. The IDF dropped leaflets in the southern town of Khan Younis on Friday, calling it a “combat zone” and urging residents to “evacuate immediately.”
Israel has repeatedly urged residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move south of Wadi Gaza – the wetlands that roughly divide the area – for their safety. Khan Younis lies south of this line.
Before the ceasefire began last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel would aim to “dismantle Hamas wherever it is,” which will include “both north and south” of Gaza.
The IDF released a new map on Friday that divides Gaza into hundreds of numbered districts and shows “evacuation zones” to be used in the “next phase of the war.” It said the map “allows Gazans to orient themselves and, if necessary, evacuate specific locations for their safety.”
Later on Friday, the IDF confirmed that it was conducting offensive operations in southern parts of the territory, including Khan Younis and Rafah.
In a video statement, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s War Cabinet and a former defense minister, said Israel was “preparing to expand the scope” of its operation to bring the remaining hostages home.
Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty Images
Palestinian search and rescue teams respond to an Israeli attack on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza following the expiry of the ceasefire, December 1, 2023.
Hours before the latest fighting broke out, the United States pressured Israel to protect Palestinian civilians. This was one of the most significant diplomatic moves so far in the more than 50-day conflict.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out American requirements in private talks in Jerusalem with Netanyahu and his war cabinet. But he also made the Biden administration’s approach clear in public in unambiguous language.
“I have underscored the United States’ need to ensure that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we have seen in northern Gaza are not repeated in the south,” Blinken said in a televised news conference in Tel Aviv.
Israel had repeatedly said it would continue its military attack on Gaza unless Hamas could produce 10 hostages for each additional day of the pause. When the 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) deadline passed, hostilities resumed almost immediately.
Meanwhile, three more Israeli hostages have died in Hamas captivity, their kibbutz and the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families announced Friday.
They include Arye Zalmanovich, 85, the oldest Israeli held in Hamas captivity, Maya Goren, 56, a mother of four, and Ronen Engel, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, whose wife and two children were released this week.
Both Israel and Hamas had previously indicated they were prepared for a resumption of fighting. “We should be prepared for a rapid transition to full-scale combat operations at any time, today, tomorrow and any time. “As soon as we maximize efforts to repatriate the hostages, we will resume heavy fighting across the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said Thursday.
Hamas’ armed wing on Thursday also called on its forces to “remain at high combat readiness” in the final hours of the ceasefire, the Al-Qassam Brigades said on Telegram.
The hard-negotiated ceasefire, which went into effect on November 24, marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the recent conflict, which began when Hamas gunmen stormed Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and more than 200 hostages were taken It was the deadliest attack of its kind to hit the country since its founding in 1948.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, more than 14,800 people, including 6,000 children, have been killed in Gaza since October 7 after Israel launched air and ground attacks. He relied on data from the Hamas-run patrol health authorities.
According to an Egyptian official, the brief lull in hostilities since October 21 allowed the passage of more than 2,700 trucks carrying thousands of tons of urgently needed aid from Egypt to Gaza. But even that is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of Gaza’s more than two million people, many of whom are displaced, aid groups said.
Renewed fighting threatens to cut off a supply line to Gaza – where residents were already struggling to find shelter, food and clean water under constant bombardment from Israeli airstrikes.
Mahmoud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Following the resumption of Israeli attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza on December 1, 2023, Palestinians are beginning to move to safer areas.
There were hopes that the ceasefire, originally scheduled to last only four days, could be extended to an eighth. But negotiators had warned that extending the ceasefire would pose logistical and strategic challenges.
Hamas claimed on Thursday that it was having difficulty locating 10 women and children hostage – a condition Israel must meet to extend the ceasefire.
Negotiations with Qatari and Egyptian mediators are still ongoing despite the resumption of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, according to a source briefed on the talks.
A member of Israel’s parliament told CNN the government is willing to discuss a different framework for the release of men and soldiers from the militant group – as long as the hostage releases continue.
“Hamas wants to set new conditions for the men and the Israeli soldiers,” Danny Danon said, adding that “we are near the end” of the current phase of the agreement.
“They want a different equation. Now we have one Israeli hostage for three Palestinian prisoners, and they want to try to change that ratio. As long as they can provide hostages, we are ready to talk,” he said.
During the seven-day lull in fighting, 86 Israelis and another 24 foreigners were released. Another Israeli dual citizen was also released outside the agreed agreement.
As of Thursday, 240 Palestinians had been released from Israeli prisons – mostly women and minors. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Israel must release three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage released.
This is a developing story and will be updated.