Both sides trade blame after Israel-Gaza ceasefire falls apart

The week-long ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip fell apart Friday morning with both Israel and the militant group blaming the other for the collapse of a truce that had allowed for the exchange of hundreds of hostages and prisoners, and the increased delivery of much-needed aid to civilians in the territory, The New York Times reports. Fighting resumed almost immediately around the truce’s expiration time. Just before 7 a.m. local time, Israel said it had intercepted a projectile fired from Gaza, and moments after the deadline passed, the state announced it would be restarting its military campaign. Airstrikes followed swiftly after.

“With the return to fighting, we emphasize: The government of Israel is committed to achieving the war aims — freeing our hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the residents of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office. Hamas in a statement said that it had offered to release more hostages, including older people, but Israel had made “a prior decision to resume the criminal aggression.” For its part, Israel said that Hamas had failed to release the promised number of hostages; Hamas released eight Thursday, two fewer than expected, after releasing 94 since the beginning of the truce. 

International mediators said they were continuing negotiations amid the fighting in hopes of quickly reinstating the truce. The foreign ministry of Qatar said in a statement that the renewal of airstrikes “complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the strip,” Under the truce, which went into effect last Friday, more than 100 Israeli and dual-national hostages were freed from Gaza in exchange for Israel’s release of 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.