Israel resumes full-fledged assault on Hamas in Gaza after ceasefire expires

Israeli fighter jets struck targets in the Gaza Strip minutes after a week-long truce expired on Friday as the war with Hamas resumed in full force. Black smoke billowed from the besieged territory and Israel dropped leaflets over parts of southern Gaza asking people to leave their homes, suggesting it was preparing to widen its offensive.

In Israel, sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that the militants also resumed attacks, but there were no reports of hits. The renewed hostilities raised concerns about Palestinians in the small coastal enclave, as well as about 140 hostages who remain there, after more than 100 were released during the truce.

Qatar, which has served as a mediator along with Egypt, said negotiators were still trying to reach an agreement to restart the ceasefire. Qatar's Foreign Ministry highlighted Israel's role in the resumption of fighting, saying it “complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe.”

A day earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli officials and urged them to do more to protect Palestinian civilians as they try to destroy Hamas. Blinken arrived at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai on Friday, where he was due to meet with Arab foreign ministers and other officials.

Israel's retaliation for Hamas' deadly incursion on October 7 has killed thousands of Palestinians, uprooted most of Gaza's 2.3 million people and sparked a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now crammed into the south of the landlocked territory, raising questions about how any Israeli offensive there could avoid heavy civilian casualties.

It was unclear to what extent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will heed calls from the United States, Israel's most important ally. Netanyahu's office said Friday that Israel is “committed to achieving the goals of the war: freeing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again poses a threat to the residents of Israel.”

Just hours after the renewed offensive, the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said 32 people had been killed and dozens wounded.

In leaflets it dropped in southern Gaza, Israel urged people to leave homes east of Khan Younis, warning that the southern city was now a “dangerous battle zone”. Other leaflets warned residents of several neighborhoods in northern Gaza City to move south.

The Israeli military also released a map that divided the Gaza Strip into hundreds of numbered parcels and asked residents to know the number associated with their location in the event of an eventual evacuation. It was not immediately clear how Palestinians would be informed about the evacuation calls.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled northern Gaza before the war, in an extraordinary mass exodus that saw many take refuge in Khan Younis and elsewhere in the south.

One of the first airstrikes on Friday destroyed a large building in Khan Younis. Moments later, residents were seen frantically searching the debris for survivors as medics approached. A wounded man was taken away on a stretcher.

In Hamad City, a Qatari-funded development near the city, a strike hit an apartment in a multi-story residential building, while other parts of the building appeared largely intact.

Elsewhere, a strike hit a house near northern Gaza City, and in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, rescuers dug through the rubble of a large building hit by warplanes . A foot poked out of the mess of concrete and wiring.

Israel has said it is targeting Hamas operatives and attributes civilian casualties to the group, accusing the militants of operating in residential neighborhoods. Since the war broke out on October 7, in response to a deadly attack by Hamas in southern Israel, many of those killed in Israeli bombings have been women and children.

In Israel, trails of white smoke could be seen in the sky over Sderot, on the border with northern Gaza, after Israel's missile defense systems were activated.

Netanyahu said the war resumed because Hamas had violated the terms of the truce. “He failed in his obligation to release all the female hostages today and launched rockets at Israeli citizens,” he said in a statement.

Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the truce, saying in a statement that it had rejected all offers made by Hamas to release more hostages and bodies.

The Israeli military's announcement of the resumption of attacks came just 30 minutes after the ceasefire, which began on November 24, expired early Friday.

During the week-long truce, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, mostly Israelis, in exchange for 240 Palestinians being released from Israeli prisons.

Virtually all those freed were women and children, but the fact that few hostages now remain in Gaza made it difficult to reach an agreement to extend the ceasefire.

Hamas, a terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years, was expected to put a higher price on the remaining hostages, especially Israeli soldiers.

Netanyahu has come under intense pressure from the families of the hostages to bring them home. But his far-right government partners have also pushed him to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed, and he could abandon his coalition if he is seen to be making too many concessions.

A total of 83 Israelis, including dual nationals, were released during the truce, most of whom appeared physically fine but shaken. Another 24 hostages, 23 Thais and one Filipino, were also released, including several men.

The 240 Palestinians freed were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during clashes with Israeli forces. Some were women who were convicted by military courts of attempting to attack soldiers.

In their October 7 attack on Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 captives.

Since then, Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The number is likely to be much higher, as officials have only sporadically updated the count since November 11. The ministry says thousands more are feared to have died under the rubble.

Israel says 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive. He claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.