Exactly one week after the ceasefire came into force and after the failure this morning of the efforts for its extension, Israel y Hamas have resumed their most intense and lethal war since the fundamentalist group took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Parallel to the Israeli air attacks and the Palestinian projectiles, the Egyptian and Qatari mediation is trying to reach an agreement – based on the release of more kidnapped people – to extend the calm, even if it is for at least one more day.
An hour before the end of the truce that had been extended several times since last Friday, the militias fired several projectiles against southern Israel. One of them was intercepted. “Hamas has violated the operational pause and has also fired into Israeli territory,” the Army said shortly after 6:00 (Spanish time). Subsequently, and for the first time in a week, he stated that his Air Force “is attacking terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip”.
Several news agencies in Gaza reported several explosions and both air and artillery attacks. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the bombings in the southern (Rafah and Khan Yunes) and northern (Gaza capital) areas have caused at least 32 dead, mostly civilians. At the moment, there has been no progress by the Israeli troops deployed in the north since they began the ground incursion more than a month ago, thus joining the air campaign in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7. At the same time, the mermaids in the face of the increasing firing of projectiles against Israeli towns bordering the Palestinian enclave.
“What Israel did not achieve during the 50 days before the truce, it will not achieve if it continues its aggression after it,” said Hamas leader Ezzat El Rashq. This group, which promises a “firm and heroic response to the crimes of the enemy”, had confirmed the cessation of the ceasefire maintained in the last week in which freed dozens of kidnapped children and women in their attack on southern Israel. On Thursday, the group of Yahia Sinwar (Gaza) and Ismail Haniya (Doha) handed over ten Israelis (nine women, including a Bedouin teenager, and a young man) while 30 Palestinian prisoners (23 women and 7 minors) were released. of Israeli prisons within the framework of the agreement. The calm has also allowed an increase in humanitarian aid (food, water, medicine and fuel) to the Gaza Strip. In this sense, the Gazan authorities warned that it was not enough for the health system and asked to “guarantee the flow of medical supplies and fuel to all hospitals in the Gaza Strip.”
Egypt and Qatar continue their efforts to restore the fragile calm that this morning, as in previous ones, depended on the presentation of a new Hamas list with Israelis to liberate. Some names that did not reach the Kirya (headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and Army) in Tel Aviv. This fact and the projectiles from Gaza led Israel to resume attacks that they had already announced in recent days in case the truce did not continue. It is estimated that around 140 people remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.