Following a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, fighting broke out again in Gaza on Friday; minutes later, Palestinian health officials announced the first casualties.
A thick cloud of gray smoke was seen sweeping over northern Gaza on an AFPTV livecam, and for the first ninety minutes after the truce ended at 0500 GMT, there appeared to be sounds of explosions and automatic weapon fire.
Fighter jets were “currently striking” Hamas targets in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, as AFP correspondents confirmed airstrikes in the region’s north and south.
Marwan al-Hams, the director of Al-Najar hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, where many Palestinians fled after being told by Israel to leave the north of the territory, said strikes killed at least nine people in the city, including four children.
Elsewhere, two children were killed in air raids on Gaza City, said Fadel Naim, a doctor with Al-Ahli hospital in the city.
There has been intense fighting reported in several areas of Gaza City, and an AFP source close to Hamas said that the group’s armed wing had received “the order to resume combat” and to “defend the Gaza Strip”.
Shortly after Israel’s army reported that it had intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza, the first from the region since a missile fired minutes before the ceasefire on November 24 began, fighting broke out again.
According to Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, violence has resumed since Hamas “violated” the cease-fire.
“Upon the resumption of fighting, we emphasise: 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,” it said in a statement.
An hour after the combat restarted, sirens alerting nearby populations to possible missile fire began to ring. Israeli authorities said that they were resuming security measures in the area, which included closing schools.
