Deadline to extend Gaza truce passes, Israel says it's resumed fighting Hamas
CBC
The Israeli military said Friday that its fighter jets have begun striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, in the clearest sign yet that the war has resumed with full force after a week-long truce.
The announcement came 30 minutes after the cease-fire expired at 7 a.m. Friday.
Airstrikes hit southern Gaza, including the community of Abassan east of the town of Khan Younis, the Interior Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
Another strike hit a home northwest of Gaza City. Live footage from the Gaza Strip showed black smoke billowing from the territory.
Israel's military accused the Palestinian militant group of violating the terms of the truce and firing toward Israeli territory.
In the hour before the truce was set to end, Israel said it intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza and Hamas-affiliated media reported sounds of explosions and gunfire in the Palestinian enclave.
More rocket sirens have sounded in several Israeli communities near the border with Gaza since the truce deadline passed.
Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt had sought to prolong the truce by another two days.
Negotiators had worked feverishly to renew the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on Friday.
Both sides earlier marked the seventh day of a Qatari-mediated truce with the exchange of eight hostages, held by Hamas, and 30 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons and the infusion of more humanitarian aid into the shattered Gaza Strip.
The halt in fighting began a week ago, on Nov. 24.
The pause in hostilities initially lasted for four days, and then was extended for several days.
During that time, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel.
Virtually all of those freed were women and children. Reaching agreements on swaps appeared to be growing harder as most women and children held in Gaza had already been released.
