Gaza truce crumbles as Israel and Hamas resume war

Israel announced it restarted its military campaign in Gaza early Friday, just as its extended truce with Hamas was due to expire.

“The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on X.

The IDF claimed that “Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory.”

Earlier, the Israeli military said that it had “successfully intercepted a launch from Gaza,” an hour before the truce was set to expire.

Hamas officials said Israeli airstrikes hit southern Gaza Friday morning, including the city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, killing three people. Israeli military vehicles were also firing in northwest Gaza, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas broke the truce by not releasing “all of the women hostages today and has launched rockets at Israeli citizens.”

“Upon the resumption of fighting, we emphasize: The Government of Israel is committed to achieving the goals of the war: Releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to the residents of Israel,” the Israeli leader added.

The weeklong pause in the conflict, which was extended twice and ended at 7 a.m. (6 a.m. CET) on Friday, saw Hamas free more than 100 hostages it abducted in its October 7 violent raid on Israel, in exchange for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners. About 140 hostages remain in Gaza.

Despite international mediators’ hopes that the truce would be extended for an eighth day to allow more prisoner swaps and more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, no agreement was announced.