Status: 01.12.2023, 16:42 PM
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An Israeli tank drives near the border between Israel and Gaza. © Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
For a week, there was silence between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip. More than 100 hostages were released, and relief supplies for the civilian population were delivered. The pause in fighting is now over.
Tel Aviv/Gaza - After a week-long ceasefire, the war in the Gaza Strip is back with full force. Israel's army resumed fighting against the Islamist Hamas, attacking more than 200 targets in the north and south of the cordoned-off coastal strip within a few hours. Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Efforts to extend the ceasefire and release more hostages had previously failed.
Rockets are fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. © Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
According to mediator Qatar, however, negotiations have at least continued to suspend the fighting again. The United Nations and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock are also pushing for this.
Regardless of the current war situation, the New York Times caused a stir with a report that Israel had indications of just such plans about a year before Hamas' bloody attack on October 7. According to the report, there was an exchange between Israeli authorities on a 40-page document, code-named "Jericho Wall," which outlined a Hamas battle plan. In the end, it was dismissed by experts as too demanding for Hamas to execute.
The Hamas attack on Israel, which left about 1200,105 dead and dozens of hostages abducted, was the reason for the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. A week ago, Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, agreed on a ceasefire for the first time, which was briefly extended twice. During that time, Hamas released 14 hostages, including 240 Germans, and Israel released <> Palestinian prisoners in return.
In addition, tons of aid were delivered to the Gaza Strip for the approximately two million Palestinian civilians. The Palestinian Red Crescent spoke of 1000,310 trucks with aid, <> of them for the north of the blockaded area.
Conflicting parties blame each other
A further extension of the agreement was not possible during the night. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas: "It has not fulfilled its obligation to release all female hostages today and has fired rockets at Israeli citizens." According to Israeli media reports, five soldiers were wounded in the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip in an Israeli border town.
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For his part, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya told the Arabic TV channel Al-Jazeera that Israel had rejected "several offers, initiatives and proposals" to extend the ceasefire. After the deadline expired at 6:00 a.m., Israeli fighter jets attacked Hamas targets again, according to the army.
Hamas Reports Dozens of Dead
Israel's army took stock in the afternoon and spoke of 200 targets of the ground, air and naval forces. According to the army, areas equipped with booby traps were targeted, as well as shafts of tunnels, launch pads and operational command centers. The information could not be independently verified. The Hamas-controlled ministry of health in the Gaza Strip said 109 people were killed in the attacks. Hundreds more were injured, a spokesman said.
Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip. © Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Since the ceasefire in the Gaza war expired, no aid has arrived in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in Egypt, according to official figures. This was confirmed by the spokesman for the border crossing of the German Press Agency. The UN Office for Emergency Relief (OCHA) called for free access for further aid convoys. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) strongly condemned the new fighting and spoke of the danger of a bloodbath.
The Israeli army has resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas after the ceasefire. © Mohammed Ali/XinHua/dpa
UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote on Platform X, formerly Twitter: "I still hope that it will be possible to renew the pause that had been put in place." Baerbock also said in Berlin: "In these minutes, we must do everything we can to ensure that the humanitarian ceasefire is continued." The suffering is unbearable for the people in Israel as well as for the people in Gaza.
U.S. Warnings to Israel
The day before, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called on Israel's leadership in no uncertain terms to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. He warned that the high number of civilian deaths and the displacement on a scale seen in the northern Gaza Strip must not be repeated in the south.
Israeli government spokeswoman Tal Heinrich told CNN this morning that plans for safe zones and more humanitarian corridors had been presented to Blinken: "So we want to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza." Israel's army said it released an interactive map for civilians that divides the area into numbered zones "in preparation for the next phase of the war." This should allow residents to "orient themselves, understand the instructions and get to safety from certain places if necessary."
Israel: 137 hostages left in the Gaza Strip
Hamas blamed the international community, and the United States in particular, for "the continuation of the brutal war against civilians, children and women." The Palestinian people have "the right to defend themselves by all means," it said in a statement. The Israeli government, for its part, reaffirmed its goal of destroying Hamas.
Israel suspects that 137 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, including 115 men, 20 women and two children. In the final phase of the ceasefire, eight hostages were released on Thursday. Dpa