Israel has declared that Hamas ‘will now take the mother of all thumpings’ as punishment for ‘failing to release all the kidnapped women’ after a truce expired and hostilities resumed.
‘Unfortunately, Hamas decided to terminate the pause by failing to release all the kidnapped women,’ government spokesman Eylon Levy told a briefing on Friday, December 1.
According to Mail Online, Israel relaunched its brutal offensive on Hamas with full force, firing a barrage of missiles and sending warplanes screaming over Gaza as a week-long ceasefire expired.
The truce officially expired at 7 am local time (5 am GMT), but the IDF claimed that Hamas ‘violated’ the ceasefire early and launched rockets on Israel in the early hours, with footage shared on social media appearing to show attacks on the city of Sderot close to the border with Gaza.
Just under an hour before the ceasefire officially expired, the IDF claimed it had ‘intercepted’ another attack, adding that a ‘number’ of rockets had been fired by Hamas before the truce ended.
The Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said 14 people had been killed in the first two hours after fighting resumed. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, there were ’14 dead and dozens injured, most of them women and children.’
Despite the fresh violence, Qatari and Egyptian mediators are still negotiating a new extension of the seven-day truce.
In a statement this morning, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its ‘deep regret at the resumption of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip following the end of the humanitarian pause’ but confirmed that negotiations between the two sides ‘are continuing with the aim of returning to a pause.’
Hamas last night released another round of hostages hours before the resumption of hostilities.
The freed hostages were named as Nili Margalit, 41, Sapir Cohen, 29, Shani Goren, 29, Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, Aisaha Ziadana, 17, and her brother Bilal, 18.
Ziadana’s father Yousef and eldest brother Hamza remain in captivity.
The IDF last night confirmed the six Israeli hostages were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross.
An IDF statement said: ‘According to the information provided by the Red Cross, six Israeli abductees were transferred to them and are on their way to Israel.’
| LIB
