A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas expired on Friday, with the Israeli army saying combat operations had resumed and an AFP journalist witnessing air and artillery strikes on Gaza City.
‘Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory,’ the army said in a statement, adding it had ‘resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip’.
The Israeli air strikes and artillery fire began after the latest release of 30 Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s prisons overnight on Thursday in the latest exchange under an extended truce deal due to expire within hours, reports AFP.
The prisoners -- including 23 minors and seven women -- were released hours after eight Israeli hostages were freed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The truce agreement between Israel and Hamas stipulates that a minimum of 10 Israeli hostages should be released alive each day.
But a source close to Hamas told AFP that two Russian-Israeli women freed on Wednesday in addition to 10 others made up for only eight Israelis being released on Thursday.
Mediator Qatar appeared to back the calculation.
Since it came into force on November 24, the truce agreement has resulted in the freeing of 110 hostages, including 80 Israelis.
The majority of the 30 non-Israeli hostages freed were from Thailand, released under a separate agreement.
Israel has freed 240 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
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