The Israeli military says it has resumed combat operations against Hamas, accusing the militant group of violating the truce agreement by firing toward Israel.
An hour before Friday’s deadline was set to expire Israel’s aerial defense system intercepted one rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. There was no indication of who launched the single rocket.
Israel’s announcement came moments after a seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas for the release of civilian hostages expired with no indications the sides had agreed to extend the deal.
Egyptian and Qatari negotiators were working to extend the temporary truce for an additional two days, Egypt said but the current deal expired at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET).
During the ceasefire, 78 Israeli and dual-national hostages were released as part of the exchange deal that began on November 24. As of Thursday, Israel has released 240 Palestinian prisoners all women or teenagers. 3 Israeli-Russian dual nationals were released as part of a separate agreement between Hamas and the Kremlin.
On Friday morning, Israeli strikes resumed in areas across Gaza, according to a statement from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior.
The ministry also noted earlier that Israeli military vehicles were firing in northwest Gaza minutes after the truce expired.