Fighting resumed in the Gaza Strip today, Saturday, for the second day after talks to extend a week-long ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) collapsed, while mediators stated that Israeli shelling complicates efforts to halt the hostilities again.
Reuters reporters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza reported that the eastern areas of the city were subjected to intensive shelling shortly after the ceasefire ended just after dawn on Friday, with columns of smoke visible in the sky. By late Friday evening, health officials in Gaza reported that Israeli airstrikes had killed 184 people and injured at least 589 others, damaging more than 20 homes. Residents took to the streets seeking shelter in the west while carrying their belongings on carts.
Both sides traded accusations regarding responsibility for the collapse of the ceasefire, rejecting terms for the daily release of hostages held by militants in exchange for the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons. The United Nations stated that the fighting would exacerbate the already severe humanitarian emergency. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said, “Hell on earth has returned to Gaza.” UN Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths added, “Today, within hours, reports came in of dozens killed and injured. Orders were given for families to evacuate their homes again. Hopes have vanished,” noting that children, women, and men in Gaza “have nowhere safe to go or enough to live on."
In northern Gaza, which was the main war zone prior to the ceasefire, huge columns of smoke rose above the rubble, visible across the fence in Israel. The sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed. Residents and Hamas officials reported that its fighters, armed with rocket launchers, clashed with Israeli forces and tanks in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City.
Sirens sounded in southern Israel after militants fired rockets from the coastal enclave toward towns. Hamas claimed it targeted Tel Aviv, but there were no reports of casualties or damage there.
