Israel announces resumption of combat in Gaza Strip
Israel has resumed combat operations against Hamas in Gaza after accusing the Palestinian militant group of firing rockets at Israel and reneging on a deal to free all women held as hostages, violating their temporary truce agreement.
Ready for resumption of hostilities
The truce expired at 4:00pm AEST on Friday.
The IDF posted on “X”: “Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory. The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.”
The seven-day pause, which began on November 24 and was extended twice, had allowed for the exchange of dozens of hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip.
In the hour before the truce was set to end at 7am (0500 GMT) on Friday, Israel said it intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas or claim of responsibility for the launches.
“With the resumption of fighting we emphasise: The Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war – to free our hostages, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never pose a threat to the residents of Israel,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Friday.
Hamas was also defiant.
“What Israel did not achieve during the 50 days before the truce, it will not achieve by continuing its aggression after the truce,” Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said on the group’s website.
Palestinian media and Gaza’s interior ministry reported Israeli air and artillery strikes across the enclave after the truce expired, including in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, a Reuters witness said he could hear heavy shelling and see smoke rising in the east of the town.
People were fleeing the area to camps in the west of Khan Younis for cover, he said.
Al-Jazeera reported a number of people had been killed and injured by Israeli raids and shelling.
The Israeli military confirmed its jets were striking Hamas targets in Gaza.
Images on social media showed large plumes of dark smoke rising over the densely built-up Jabalia camp in Gaza.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the October 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.
Israel retaliated with intense bombardment and a ground invasion.
Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed.
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 total freed during the truce to 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Among those released were six women aged 21 to 40 including one Mexican-Israeli dual national and 21-year-old Mia Schem, who holds both French and Israeli citizenship.
The other two newly released hostages were a brother and sister, Belal and Aisha al-Ziadna, aged 18 and 17 respectively, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
The truce had allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million people was reduced to wasteland in the Israeli assault.
More fuel and 56 trucks of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza on Thursday, Israel’s defence ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
But deliveries of food, water, medical supplies and fuel remain far below what is needed, aid workers say.
Before the ceasefire came into effect, Israel had been preparing to turn the focus of its operation to southern Gaza after its seven-week assault to the north.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Israel during his third visit to the Middle East since the war began, did not comment on the resumption of fighting as he headed for Dubai.
On Thursday, Blinken said he told Netanyahu Israel cannot repeat in south Gaza the massive civilian casualties and displacement of residents it inflicted in the north.
The Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said, “Israel has clear and moral objectives in this war – ending the terrorist organisation Hamas’s rule of Gaza and bringing home the hostages. When hostages were being returned, Israel paused its operation. Indeed, the only reason Hamas handed the hostages over was because of Israel’s military operation.
Mr Leibler continued, “The Australian Jewish community stands in solidarity with the families of the hostages still in Gaza. We know the resumption of the operation must be particularly difficult for them, but we strongly believe that it is only by defeating Hamas that all the hostages will come home.”
Mr Leibler concluded, “We are aware of the difficult humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and the impact this war has had on many Gazans. We are proud of Israel’s facilitation and provision of humanitarian aid into Gaza, even during war. This war is entirely because of Hamas’s actions, and the impact of the war on Gazan civilians is legally and morally entirely Hamas’s fault. All those who care for Palestinian welfare and Israeli-Palestinian peace should be calling for Hamas’s unconditional surrender and the return of all the hostages.”
AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein told J-Wire: “No one should be surprised that Hamas treacherously ended the ceasefire, not by giving warning, but with a barrage of rockets. Israel showed great forbearance in maintaining the ceasefire despite previous breaches by Hamas. It is tragic that no further hostages are being released by their brutal captors, but now that fighting has resumed, it must end with Hamas uprooted from Gaza and unable to threaten Israeli civilians again. Anything less, especially a conclusion that leaves Hamas in power, would just be a recipe for further conflict. We pray that this is accomplished with as minimal loss of life as possible among both the IDF and innocent civilians.”
AAP/Reuters with J-Wire
