Israel’s military said it was resuming combat operations in Gaza on Friday morning after the temporary truce with Hamas that had paved the way for hostage releases broke down.
Israeli strikes have resumed in areas across Gaza and military vehicles were firing in the northwest, minutes after the truce expired on Friday, according to a statement from the Hamas-control Ministry of Interior in Gaza.
In a statement released from his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting resumed against Hamas after the militant group broke the outline of the truce and “didn’t respect its obligation to release today all the abducted women and launched rockets towards the citizens of Israel.”
Netanyahu said , his government would “accomplish the targets of the fighting”, which included the release of hostages, “to liquidate Hamas” and to ensure the citizens of Israel are never again threatened by an attack from Gaza.
There was no immediate response from Hamas on the rocket launch accusation.
If the truce is now permanently broken, the resumption in fighting could reignite a festering conflict that has wrought devastation to Gaza and triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that was described by the UN Secretary-General as “a crisis of humanity.”
The brief pause in hostilities allowed for more than 2,700 trucks carrying thousands of tons of desperately needed aid to cross from Egypt into Gaza since October 21, according to an Egyptian official. But even that was completely inadequate to meet the needs of the more than two million people in Gaza – many of whom are displaced, aid agencies said.
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