Israel resumed fighting in Gaza minutes after a temporary ceasefire deal ended, and accused Hamas of having violated the truce. Hamas blames Israel, saying it declined offers to free more hostages. Mediator Qatar said Friday that efforts are ongoing to renew an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and expressed “deep regret” over the resumption of Israeli bombardments.
More than 100 hostages were freed during the seven-day truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Israel says around 125 men are still held hostage. The 240 Palestinians released under the ceasefire were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces.
Complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war
The deal that began Nov. 24 ended after a week and multiple extensions, despite international pressure for the truce to continue as long as possible. Weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign have left more than three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed – roughly two-thirds of them women and minors – according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Some 1,200 Israelis have been killed, mostly during Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
ISRAEL IS HOLDING MORE THAN 2,800 PALESTINIANS WITHOUT CHARGES, GROUP SAYS
JERUSALEM – Israel is holding more than 2,800 Palestinians without charges or trial in so-called administrative detention, the highest number in over three decades, an Israeli human rights group said Friday.
The number of administrative detainees increased by 800 in just a month and they now make up close to 40% of all Palestinians held by Israel, said HaMoked, which gets the statistics from the Israel Prison Service.
Israeli authorities often keep the allegations against the detainees secret, preventing them from mounting an informed defence.
Rights groups say the practice amounts to a serious violation of due process. The detentions can range from a few months to years, and authorities often extend them for unknown reasons.
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Israel says administrative detention is an important tool in its arsenal to prevent attacks by Palestinian militants, and that the allegations must be kept secret to protect the safety of its sources.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war two months ago, the number of administrative detainees has more than doubled, as near-nightly raids into Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem bring in hundreds of Palestinians on suspicion of association with militant groups or incitement on social media.
The total number of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli prisons is now 7,677, up roughly 700 in one month, HaMoked said. Over the past week, 240 Palestinian women and minors were released by Israel as part of a truce deal with Hamas, which in turn freed more than 100 hostages it held in Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by a deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
ISRAEL PUBLISHES A NUMBERED EVACUATION MAP OF THE GAZA STRIP
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military released a map Friday carving up the Gaza Strip into hundreds of numbered parcels and asked residents to familiarize themselves with the number related to their location in case of an eventual evacuation.
The parcels were crudely drawn, with lines cutting across streets in some cases. The map, which Israel said would eventually be interactive, was published hours after Israel-Hamas fighting resumed, ending a weeklong truce that had been negotiated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Before the truce, the main combat zone was in northern Gaza, the focus of Israeli ground forces. Now, the Israeli military’s attention appears to have shifted to southern Gaza, packed with some 2 million Palestinians, including hundreds of thousands who fled the north.
It was not clear how Palestinians would be updated on their designated parcel numbers and calls for evacuation, nor where residents are meant to evacuate to, since homes and shelters in the south have been overflowing with those who fled the north.
Earlier Friday, the military dropped leaflets over an area east of the city of Khan Younis, in which residents were urged to leave for their safety. The leaflet declared Khan Younis, in the southern half of Gaza, a “dangerous battle zone.”
QATAR LAMENTS ISRAELI BOMBING OF GAZA STRIP HOURS AFTER TRUCE EXPIRED
DOHA, Qatar – Mediator Qatar said Friday that efforts are ongoing to renew an Israel-Hamas truce and expressed “deep regret” over the resumption of Israeli bombardments after a weeklong ceasefire expired earlier in the day.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame, with each saying the other side violated the terms of the truce. Qatar, which has served as a mediator along with Egypt, appeared to be singling out Israel’s role in the resumption of violence.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that “the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip in the first hours after the end of the pause complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe” in the territory. It urged the international community to “move quickly to stop the violence.”
GERMANY’S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR A RENEWED CEASEFIRE
BERLIN – Germany’s foreign minister is pushing for a renewal of the collapsed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The weeklong truce expired on Friday and the war resumed with full force.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement that “in these minutes, we must do everything so that the humanitarian ceasefire is continued – for the remaining hostages who have been hoping for release in dark tunnels for weeks, and for the suffering people in Gaza, who urgently need more humanitarian aid.”
HAMAS SAYS ISRAEL REJECTED OFFERS FOR MORE HOSTAGE RELEASES
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – The militant Palestinian group Hamas says Israel is to blame for the violence after it rejected all the offers put forward by Hamas throughout the night to release more hostages and bodies.
Hamas said in a statement that it offered to release older people as well as the bodies of hostages, including those of the Bibas family. It said that Hamas also offered to release Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two small children Hamas claimed were killed previously in Israeli airstrikes, so that he can attend their funeral. Hamas also offered to release two Israeli hostages.
“The occupation refused to accept all these offers because it had plans to resume the criminal aggression,” Hamas said. It blasted the United States and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the U.S. approved the new plan that has killed dozens on Friday morning alone.
Hamas said its fighters and those of other factions will resume their military activities and “will break the will of the defeated occupation army.”
PALESTINIANS SAY ISRAEL IS WARNING THEM TO LEAVE PARTS OF SOUTHERN GAZA
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Israel dropped leaflets over parts of southern Gaza urging people to leave homes east of the town of Khan Younis, residents said Friday. The leaflets also warned that Khan Younis was now a “dangerous battle zone.”
The leaflets signalled that Israel was preparing to widen its offensive, which had so far focused largely on the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled northern Gaza earlier in the war, with many taking shelter in Khan Younis and other cities in the south.
ISRAEL STRIKES THE GAZA STRIP AFTER TRUCE EXPIRES
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on different parts of the Gaza Strip after a temporary truce expired Friday, the Interior Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
Airstrikes hit southern Gaza, including the community of Abassan east of the town of Khan Younis, the ministry 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 said it had resumed combat operations in Gaza minutes after a temporary truce with Hamas expired at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Friday. Israel accused Hamas of having violated the truce.
The halt in fighting began Nov. 24. It initially lasted four days, and then was extended for several days with the help of Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt.
