Israel and Hamas resumed fighting

2023-12-02 03:15:00

Israel and Hamas resumed fighting after a week of truce / Photo: AFP.
Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas resumed fighting this Friday after the expiration of the week-long truce, in which dozens of hostages were released in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, with accusations crossed between the parties for the resumption of hostilities and calls from the international community for a new humanitarian cessation.

“Hamas violated operational pause“, the Israeli army said in a statement. “The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) resumed combat against the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” it added.

The announcement came after the IDF intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza, the first since the beginning of the truceon November 24.

The Israeli army said it hit “more than 200 terrorist targets,” mainly areas with “hidden explosives, tunnels used for terrorist purposes, (rocket) launch pads and command centers” of Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that The Palestinian group “violated” the agreement by “firing rockets” towards Israel.

“The Israeli government is determined to achieve the goals of the war: to free the hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to the people of Israel,” his office said in a statement.

Israel published this Friday a map that divides the Gaza Strip into hundreds of sectors with the aim of ordering new evacuations of civilians, within the framework of the start of “the next phase of the war” against Hamas.

“The division of the Gaza Strip into zones according to the division of recognized neighborhoods will allow Gaza residents to move around and understand instructions to evacuate specific areas if they are asked to do so to maintain order and security,” the Army said. Israeli.

The UN called for the truce to be extended and described the resumption of hostilities as “catastrophic” / Photo: AFP.
For its part, Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the truce, stating that its authorities rejected “all offers” to continue the process of releasing those kidnapped during the attacks carried out on October 7 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

“There were negotiations throughout the night to extend the truce, in which the movement offered to exchange prisoners and elderly. He also offered to hand over the bodies of hostages killed by Israeli bombings and to hand over the bodies of members of the Bibas family who have died, as well as to free his father so that he could participate in the funerals“said the group, according to information from the Palestinian news agency Maan.

War

The truce marked a pause in the fighting that began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel, in a surprise attack that left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, and 240 kidnappedamong them around twenty Argentines.

In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed a campaign of air and ground strikes in Gaza that, according to the Hamas government, left more than 15,000 dead, mostly civilians.

Cross versions

Hamas had announced on Wednesday the death of 10-month-old Argentine baby Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother Ariel, and his mother Sherry Silverman, who had been kidnapped along with the father of the family during the attacks in Israeli territory.

The Israeli Army, for its part, said at the time that it was investigating the veracity of the information made known by the Palestinian group, which it blamed for the safety of the hostages it holds in the Gaza Strip.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed Thursday that the version that the woman and her two young children were killed is still unproven, after calling a video that emerged of the father blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “psychological terror.” for what happened.

On the other hand, a source close to Hamas indicated this Friday to the AFP news agency that the armed wing of the organization received “the order to resume combat” and “defend the Gaza Strip.”

The Gaza Ministry of Health, in the hands of Hamas, indicated that 178 people died and 589 were injured this Friday in the Gaza Strip. Among the dead are three journalists, bringing the number of reporters killed since the start of the war to 73, according to the Palestinian group.

The truce marked a pause in the fighting that began on October 7 when Hamas militants broke into Israel, in a surprise attack that left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, and 240 kidnapped, including twenty Argentines.

In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed a campaign of air and ground strikes in Gaza that the Hamas government says left more than 15,000 dead, mostly civilians.

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The resumption of fighting in turn ended hopes of extending the seven-day truce that allowed the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and facilitated the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Government estimated this Friday that there are still 137 hostages captured by the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, including about 11 foreigners.

Meanwhile, 110 kidnapped people have already been released since the beginning of the conflict, 105 of them during the truce, mostly Israeli women and minors, and a dozen of them Argentinian, and in exchange Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Hostages released / Photo: AFP
For his part, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country remains “intensely focused” on freeing the hostages held captive in Gaza despite the resumption of fighting.

“We remain intensely focused on bringing everyone home, on bringing back the hostages, something I also worked on today,” Blinken said after a meeting with the foreign ministers of Arab countries on the sidelines of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change in Dubai.

Diplomatic efforts

The head of American diplomacy met with his counterparts from United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain during his brief visit to the Emirati capital, as well as with a representative of the Palestinian National Authoritywhich governs the West Bank.

In parallel, from the United States, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council stated this Friday that they continued “working with Israel, Egypt and Qatar to extend the humanitarian pause in Gaza.”

UN Secretary General António Guterres said this Friday that he “deeply” regrets the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and hopes that a truce can be restored.

“I deeply regret that military operations have started again in Gaza. I still hope that it will be possible to renew the pause we established,” he wrote in a message on the social network X.

The UN chief insisted that the return of fighting “only shows how important it is to have a true humanitarian ceasefire.”

“The resumption of hostilities in Gaza is catastrophic” Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“I urge all parties and States with influence over them to redouble efforts, immediately, to guarantee a ceasefire, for humanitarian and human rights reasons,” he declared in a statement and considered that the situation now goes “beyond a crisis phase,” added Türk

The UN reported this Friday that the Rafah border crossing, between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, an entry point for humanitarian aid, is closed due to the resumption of fighting.

“With the resumption of war, we fear that the continuation (of humanitarian aid supply) is in doubt. The Rafah checkpoint is closed. We need the resumption of the humanitarian truce and not a return to war,” he said the spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jens Laerke, to the