Greater than 180 individuals have been killed and tons of of others wounded as Israeli forces resumed their bombardment of the Gaza Strip, based on Palestinian officers, after a week-long truce expired.
Jap areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza got here beneath intense bombardment because the deadline lapsed shortly after daybreak on Friday, with columns of smoke rising into the sky, the Reuters information company reported. Residents took to the highway with belongings heaped in carts, looking for shelter additional west.
Sirens blared throughout southern Israel as militants fired rockets from the coastal enclave into cities. Hamas mentioned it had focused Tel Aviv, however there have been no reviews of casualties or harm there.
Gaza well being officers mentioned Israeli air strikes had killed 184 individuals, wounded at the least 589 others and hit greater than 20 homes.
The Israeli navy dropped leaflets over Gaza Metropolis and southern elements of the enclave on Friday, urging civilians to flee to keep away from the combating, however rights teams have repeatedly warned there aren’t any protected locations in Gaza.
“Civilians are being ordered to move south, but nowhere in Gaza is safe due to the indiscriminate bombing and continued fighting,” mentioned the NGO Medical doctors With out Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) on X, calling on the Israeli military to rescind the order.
Civilians are being ordered to maneuver south, however nowhere in Gaza is protected as a result of indiscriminate bombing and continued combating.
— Medical doctors With out Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (@MSF_canada) December 1, 2023
The UN mentioned the combating would worsen an excessive humanitarian emergency. “Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian workplace in Geneva, mentioned.
The Palestinian Purple Crescent (PRCS) says Israeli forces knowledgeable “all organisations and entities” working on the crossing that the entry of vehicles is “prohibited, starting from today” and till additional discover.
“This decision exacerbates the suffering of citizens and increases the challenges facing humanitarian and relief organisations in alleviating the hardships of citizens and displaced persons due to the ongoing aggression,” the PRCS mentioned in a submit on X.
‘Urgent rescue plan’
Chatting with reporters after Israel resumed its bombardment, Gaza’s authorities media workplace known as on Arab and Muslim states to urgently set up subject hospitals within the besieged enclave to save lots of “tens of thousands of injured people”.
The workplace’s spokesperson, Salama Marouf, mentioned a “large number of aid trucks” can be urgently wanted, together with at the least a million litres (greater than 264,000 gallons) of gasoline per day.
Marouf known as on international locations, particularly members of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to give you an “urgent rescue plan” and to search out “quick humanitarian solutions that address the fate of more than 250,000 families who have lost their homes”.
Every of the warring sides blamed the opposite for inflicting the collapse of the truce by rejecting phrases to increase the each day launch of hostages held by armed teams in alternate for Palestinian detainees.
The pause, which started on November 24, had been prolonged twice, and Israel had mentioned it might proceed so long as Hamas launched 10 hostages every day. However after seven days throughout which girls, youngsters and international hostages have been freed, mediators failed on the ultimate hour to discover a formulation to launch extra, together with Israeli troopers and civilian males.
Qatar, which has performed a central function in mediation efforts together with the US and Egypt, mentioned negotiations have been nonetheless happening with Israelis and Palestinians to revive the truce, however that Israel’s renewed bombardment of Gaza had sophisticated its efforts.
In a gathering with the UK’s newly-appointed Overseas Secretary David Cameron on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, mentioned his nation was dedicated to persevering with efforts to de-escalate.
Based on a a press release launched by Qatar’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs, the 2 reviewed the newest developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories in addition to methods to implement a long-lasting ceasefire.
The White Home additionally mentioned it was pushing to revive the truce, with Press Secretary John Kirby telling reporters on Friday night that the US needs to see extra captives launched and extra humanitarian assist get into the Strip.
“There has been some disappointment, the fact that the US efforts to extend the ceasefire were not successful, but the other reaction has been to simply repeat the Israeli line that the end of the ceasefire came about because of actions by Hamas,” Al Jazeera’s Mike Hannah reported from Washington, DC.
“Blinken says Israel is acting immediately to ensure the safety of civilians in the conflict zones, giving them areas in which they will take safe shelter. This ignores the fact that Israel has, in turn, ignored the humanitarian notification system,” he added.
Egypt says it was additionally working to reinstate the truce in Gaza as quickly as attainable, based on a press release by Egypt’s State Info Service.
Greater than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, together with greater than 6,000 youngsters. In Israel, the official demise toll stands at about 1,200.