A Palestinian child displaced in Gaza – Reuters
Middle East
Before the end of the truce, American media reported to Egyptian officials: Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the truce for the eighth day.
With the end of the seventh day of truce between Israel and Hamas today, Friday, and the resumption of Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Hamas has violated the truce and that its forces they pledged to achieve the objectives of the war with the resumption of fighting. A spokesman for Netanyahu said the Israeli government was committed to achieving its war goals, freeing detainees and eliminating Hamas.
Israeli Army Radio announced a complete resumption of fighting in Gaza and “no prisoner negotiations are currently underway.”
The seventh day of the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip passed today, Friday, without the announcement of an extension. The Ministry of the Interior of the Gaza Strip announced that Israeli planes bombed several areas of the Gaza Strip and that their vehicles were firing in the northwest of the Strip.
Israeli Army Radio said warplanes were launching raids across Gaza, pointing out that its planes were currently bombing Hamas targets in Gaza. Before that, a witness told the Arab World News Agency that Israeli planes were circling in several skies over the Gaza Strip, including the south. The Palestinian Information Center reported that Israeli reconnaissance planes were flying low in the skies over several areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army announced that it will resume fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, minutes after the end of the seventh day of truce between the two parties in the Strip. The Israeli army said in a statement that Hamas violated the cessation of operations and opened fire on Israeli territory.
This morning the Wall Street Journal, citing Egyptian officials, reported that Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the truce for an eighth day. The agreement, according to the newspaper, provides for the release of other Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees. There has been no comment yet from Israel or Hamas.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Arab World News Agency that Israelis will adhere to the truce “as long as it includes the return of prisoners from Gaza to Israel.”
Spokesman Lior Ben Dor added that Israel was ready to extend the truce “each time for an additional day in exchange for the return of a certain number of Israeli hostages.”
He continued: “But at the same time, we are ready to resume the military operation against terrorism in Gaza as soon as the ceasefire or truce ends.”
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After seven days of calm, Israel obtained more than 100 detainees held by the Hamas movement in exchange for the release of three times this number. Ben Dor said: “Israel continues to make all efforts and attempts to recover all those abducted from Gaza without any delay.”
He added: “The truce will continue. But when we see that we have reached an impasse or the point where Hamas refuses to release any more hostages, we will return to putting military pressure on them.”
Regarding the prospects of reaching agreements on extending the truce for further days, Ben Dor said: “The extension of the truce depends on the release of additional hostages. There are still around 159 Israeli hostages in Gaza, and we will continue all activities military, diplomatic and political efforts to recover them.”
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This comes after a Hamas leader said that the attack carried out yesterday, Thursday, by two young Palestinians and claimed by the movement after the killing of four Israelis in Jerusalem, had no impact on the possibility of extending a temporary truce between the two sides in the Gaza Strip. Strip.
Mahmoud Al-Mardawi added to the Arab World News Agency that the truce in Gaza has nothing to do with what is happening in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and described what is happening as “an open conflict related to the national rights of Palestinians.”
On Thursday, the Israel Ambulance Authority announced that three Israelis were killed and six others were wounded in a shooting attack at the entrance to the city of Jerusalem. The authority said the victims were two women aged 24 and 60, as well as an elderly man in his 70s.
Subsequently, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday that an Israeli civilian who had been shot by Israeli security forces as they attempted to neutralize the two gunmen had died from his wounds.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was a response to the continuation of what it described as Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.