The Israeli military said Friday morning that it has resumed combat in Gaza after it accused Hamas of violating the tenets of the temporary cease-fire agreement in the war which broke out Oct. 7 when Hamas militants launched a violent terror attack on southern Israel.
Israel’s allegation came as the cease-fire expired at 7 a.m. local time, with neither side announcing that it was being extended.
About an hour before the deadline, Israel Defense Forces reported that its missile defense system had detected and intercepted a rocket fired toward Israeli territory from Gaza. Hamas has not yet responded to Israel’s claim.
“Hamas violated the operational pause and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a social media post. “The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.”
Sporadic air raid sirens were heard in southern Israel Friday morning, and schools in central Israel were told they would only be open if they have bomb shelters. Otherwise, classes would be held over Zoom.
Eight Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza on Thursday, the seventh day of the cease-fire, while in exchange 30 Palestinians jailed in Israeli were also released.
The cease-fire began Nov. 24 and had been renewed twice. More than 100 Hamas-held hostages have been released during that time, along with some 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The fragile deal had remained in place despite several incidents of violence, including a shooting early Thursday morning in which two gunmen opened fire with an M16 rifle and a handgun on a crowded bus stop in Jerusalem, killing at least three Israelis and wounding six others. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed two of those wounded were U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The terrorists just came out of the cars and start shooting right on the faces of normal people,” paramedic Israel Polak, who responded to the scene, told CBS News.
Hamas said the shooting was in response to the killing of children in the Palestinian refugee Camp in Jenin. Two boys, ages 8 and 15, were fatally shot at the camp Wednesday.
Blinken, making his third visit Thursday to Israel since the war began on Oct. 7, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and cautioned Israel to protect Gaza civilians.
“Israel has one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world,” Blinken told reporters. “It is capable of neutralizing the threat posed by Hamas while minimizing harm to innocent men, women and children. And it has an obligation to do so.”
The Israeli hostages released Thursday ranged in age from 17 to 41 and included several dual-nationals.
Among them were siblings Aisha and Bilal Ziyadne, age 17 and 18, who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Holit, where they went to work with their father, Yousef, and their older brother, Hamza, said a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Their father and older brother are still being held captive by Hamas, the spokesperson said.
Also freed was 21-year-old Mia Schem, a French-Israeli woman who had appeared in a propaganda video released by Hamas in October, where her right arm seemed to be injured. Her aunt told Israeli media Thursday it was operated on by a Palestinian veterinarian.
Her mother, Karen Schem, told CBS News at the time, “It’s very hard to see my daughter, I see the pain, I see that she’s in physical pain.”
Hamas also alleged Wednesday that it is willing to provide proof that three Israeli hostages — a mother and her two children — were killed in an Israeli airstrike, identified as 4-year-old Ariel Bibas, his 10-month-old brother Kfir Bibas, and their mother, Shiri.
More than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says almost 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s retaliatory ground incursion and airstrikes
— Tucker Reals, Emily Mae Czachor, Chris Livesay and Holly Williams contributed to this report.
