More than 180 people were killed and hundreds injured as Israeli forces resumed bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian officials, after a week-long truce expired.
Eastern areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza were subjected to intense bombardment as the deadline expired shortly after dawn on Friday, with columns of smoke rising into the sky, the Reuters news agency. Residents took to the road with their belongings piled into carts, seeking shelter further west.
Sirens rang across southern Israel as militants fired rockets from the coastal enclave toward towns. Hamas said it targeted Tel Aviv, but no casualties or damage were reported.
Health officials in Gaza said Israeli airstrikes killed 184 people, injured at least 589 others and hit more than 20 homes.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets on Gaza City and the south of the enclave on Friday, calling on civilians to flee to avoid fighting, but rights groups repeatedly warned that it would not There were no safe places in Gaza.
“Civilians are being ordered to move south, but nowhere in Gaza is safe due to indiscriminate bombing and continued fighting,” the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on X, calling on the Israeli army to rescind the order. order.
Civilians are ordered to move south, but nowhere in Gaza is safe due to indiscriminate bombing and continued fighting.
— Médecins Sans Frontières / Médecins Sans Frontières (@MSF_canada) December 1, 2023
The UN said the fighting would worsen an extreme humanitarian emergency. “Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian office in Geneva.
The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says Israeli forces have informed “all organizations and entities” operating at the crossing that the entry of trucks is “prohibited, starting today” and until further notice.
“This decision exacerbates the suffering of citizens and increases the challenges faced by humanitarian and relief organizations in alleviating the hardships of citizens and those displaced due to the ongoing aggression,” PRCS said in a post on X .
“Urgent rescue plan”
Speaking to reporters after Israel resumed bombing, the Gaza government’s media office called on Arab and Muslim states to urgently establish field hospitals in the besieged enclave to save “tens of thousands of injured.”
Office spokesperson Salama Marouf said a “large number of aid trucks” were also urgently needed, including at least one million liters (more than 264,000 gallons) of fuel per day.
Marouf called on countries, particularly members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to develop an “urgent rescue plan” and find “rapid humanitarian solutions that address the plight of more than 250,000 families who lost their homes. .
Each of the warring parties blamed the other for causing the collapse of the truce by rejecting conditions aimed at extending the daily release of hostages held by armed groups in exchange for Palestinian detainees.
The pause, which began on November 24, was extended twice and Israel said it could continue as long as Hamas released 10 hostages each day. But after seven days during which women, children and foreign hostages were freed, mediators failed, at the eleventh hour, to find a formula to release more, including Israeli soldiers and civilians.
Qatar, which played a central role in mediation efforts alongside the United States and Egypt, said negotiations were still ongoing with the Israelis and Palestinians to restore the truce, but that the new Israeli bombing of Gaza had complicated his efforts.
In a meeting with the new British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, said his country was determined to continue its de-escalation efforts.
According to a statement released by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, the two discussed the latest developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories as well as ways to implement a lasting ceasefire.
The White House also said it was pushing to restore the truce, with Press Secretary John Kirby telling reporters Friday evening that the United States wanted to see more prisoners released and more humanitarian aid arriving in the Strip. Gaza.
“There was some disappointment that US efforts to extend the ceasefire were unsuccessful, but the other reaction was to simply repeat the Israeli line that ending the ceasefire “The fire was due to the actions of Hamas,” Tel Aviv Tribune said. Mike Hannah reported from Washington, DC.
“Blinken says Israel is acting immediately to ensure the safety of civilians in conflict zones, by giving them areas in which they can safely shelter. This ignores the fact that Israel has, in turn, ignored the humanitarian notification system,” he added.
Egypt says it is also working to restore the truce in Gaza as soon as possible, according to a statement from Egypt’s state information service.
More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, including more than 6,000 children. In Israel, the official death toll stands at around 1,200.