Israeli warplanes struck targets in Gaza on Friday shortly after a week-long truce expired, the army said, as the war resumed in full force.
Airstrikes hit the south of the besieged enclave, including the community of Abasan, east of the town of Khan Younis, Gaza’s interior ministry said. Another airstrike hit a house northwest of Gaza City.
Continuous loud explosions were heard across the Gaza Strip and black smoke billowed from the territory.
In Israel, sirens sounded at three communal farms near Gaza, warning of imminent rocket fire and suggesting that Hamas had also resumed attacks.
The Israeli army’s announcement of the resumption of strikes comes just 30 minutes after the temporary pause, which began on November 24, expired at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday.
At least 21 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the two hours after the Israeli army resumed attacks, Gaza’s health ministry said.
This included two people killed in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza; seven in Maghazi, central Gaza; one in Khan Younis; two in the town of Hamad; and nine in Rafah, all in the southern Gaza Strip.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now crowded into the south, with no way out, after Israel ordered hundreds of thousands to evacuate the north during its initial bombardment. This raises questions about how an Israeli offensive in southern Gaza could avoid heavy civilian casualties.
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, at least 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6,000 children, have been killed.