The Israeli military says it has resumed combat operations against Hamas, accusing the militant group of violating the truce agreement by firing toward Israel.
An hour before Friday’s
deadline was set to expire Israel’s aerial defense system intercepted one
rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. There was no
indication of who launched the single rocket.
Israel's announcement came
moments after a seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas for the release of
civilian hostages expired with no indications the sides had agreed to extend
the deal.
Egyptian and Qatari negotiators
were working to extend the temporary truce for an additional two days, Egypt
said but the current deal expired at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET).
During the ceasefire, 78
Israeli and dual-national hostages were released as part of the exchange deal
that began on November 24. As of Thursday, Israel has released 240 Palestinian
prisoners all women or teenagers. 3 Israeli-Russian dual nationals were
released as part of a separate agreement between Hamas and the Kremlin.
On Friday morning, Israeli
strikes resumed in areas across Gaza, according to a statement from the Hamas-controlled
Ministry of Interior.
The ministry also noted earlier
that Israeli military vehicles were firing in northwest Gaza minutes after the
truce expired.
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