Israeli strikes on houses and buildings across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of people, according to health officials there, as fighting resumed on Friday just minutes after a temporary cease-fire deal ended. Israel accused Hamas of having violated the truce between the warring sides, while Hamas blamed Israel, saying it declined offers to free more hostages. Mediator Qatar said efforts are ongoing to renew the truce, under which Israel paused most military activity in Gaza and freed Palestinian prisoners, primarily women and teenagers, in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas. Over 100 hostages were freed during the truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Israel says 115 adult men, 20 women and two children are still held captive. Weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign have left more than three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents uprooted and homeless, leading to a humanitarian crisis. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed — roughly two-thirds of them women and minors — according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed, mostly during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
Quick Read
- Renewed Israeli Airstrikes: Israeli strikes resumed in Gaza following the end of a temporary ceasefire, resulting in numerous Palestinian casualties.
- Truce Violation Accusations: Both Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the truce. Qatar continues efforts to renew the ceasefire.
- Hostage Situation: Over 100 hostages were released during the ceasefire, but Israel reports that 115 men, 20 women, and two children remain captive.
- Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: The conflict has caused extensive displacement and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with over 13,300 Palestinians killed.
- Israeli Town’s Losses: Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel announced the deaths of three of its members in Hamas captivity, including the oldest hostage.
- Body Recovery: The Israeli army recovered the body of Ofir Tzarfati, previously thought to be a hostage in Gaza.
- Iran’s Withdrawal from Climate Summit: Iran’s delegation left the COP28 climate summit in protest over the attendance of Israeli officials.
- Hezbollah-Israel Border Conflict: Hezbollah attacked Israeli army posts along the Lebanon-Israel border, leading to casualties in southern Lebanon.
- U.S. Involvement: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Israel’s efforts to reduce Palestinian civilian casualties and met with regional leaders to discuss aid to Gaza and hostage release plans.
- Hezbollah’s Statement: Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack on Israeli troops on the northern border.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israeli strikes kill dozens across Gaza, 3 Israeli hostages died in Hamas captivity
Newslooks- JERUSALEM (AP)
A hard-hit Israeli kibbutz says three of its members have died in Hamas captivity, including the oldest person held hostage.
Kibbutz Nir Oz said the community had received official confirmation of the deaths of Maya Goren, 56, Arye Zalmanovich, 86, and Ronan Engel, 54.
Zalmanovich was the oldest of the more than 240 people taken hostage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
A group representing the families of the hostages said Zalmanovich, a father of two and grandfather of five, was a founder of Nir Oz.
Goren was a mother of four and a kindergarten teacher for the kibbutz. Her husband was killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Engel, a father of three, was a photographer and volunteer paramedic whose wife and two daughters were released from Gaza this week.
Over 100 residents of Nir Oz — roughly a quarter of its population — was killed or kidnapped in the Oct. 7 attack.
BODY OF AN ISRAELI HOSTAGE IS RECOVERED FROM GAZA
JERUSALEM — The Israeli army says it has recovered the body of an Israeli man originally thought to be taken hostage in Gaza.
In a statement, the army said Ofir Tzarfati’s body had been located by Israeli forces in Gaza. The body was identified by medical officials and his family was notified of his death on Wednesday.
Tzarfati, 27, was abducted with dozens of other people from a music festival on Oct. 7 and had been thought to be among the 240 hostages taken by Hamas.
The army did not say whether Tzarfati died in the original attack or while in captivity.
IRAN QUITS CLIMATE SUMMIT IN PROTEST OVER ISRAELI OFFICIALS’ ATTENDANCE
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s delegation has left the U.N. climate conference in protest over the presence of Israeli officials, state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday.
IRNA reported that the country’s delegation had initially decided to participate in COP28 in Dubai after they received information that no Israeli official would attend the event. IRNA did not elaborate on where that information came from, but said political analysis indicated Israel would not take the risk of attending the summit because of the ongoing war in Gaza.
IRNA reported that the head of Iran’s delegation, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, called the presence of Israel at the summit “political, biased, and irrelevant,” prompting the Iranian delegation to leave.
Conference organizers did not immediately respond to an email late Friday seeking comment on Iran’s departure from the event.
HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL TRADE FIRE ACROSS BORDER, 2 KILLED IN SOUTHEN LEBANON
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts along the two countries’ border and Israel shelled a village in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing two people.
Israel’s military said it hit the sources of the fire directed at its forces.
Lebanese security officials said a woman and her son died when Israeli shells hit their home in the southern village of Houla. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Hezbollah later announced that the man killed in Houla was a Hezbollah fighter.
The Iran-backed militant group said it carried out four attacks on Israeli border posts. This was the first time Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border since the start of a seven-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.
US SECRETARY OF STATE TALKS ABOUT ISRAELI PLANS TO REDUCE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that Israel has begun to implement civilian protection plans to reduce Palestinian casualties as it fights Hamas in Gaza.
Dozens of people have already been killed in the Gaza Strip as Israel resumed strikes on homes and buildings after the weeklong truce ended Friday, according to Palestinian health officials.
Blinken said it was too early to say if Israel had fully followed through on commitments he said the Israelis had given him to ensure that any military operation in southern Gaza not produce similarly high death tolls as its earlier operations in northern Gaza.
“On the civilian protection and humanitarian assistance piece of this, that is absolutely imperative, and we saw Israel take steps immediately today, to start to get information to people about where safe areas are, how they can get out of harm’s way,” he said.
Blinken spoke in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP28 climate change conference, where he met his colleagues from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority. He said they discussed the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, to secure the release of hostages and to begin to plan for a post-conflict Gaza.
Blinken on Thursday visited Israel and the West Bank, his third trip to the Middle East since the conflict began on Oct 7. While there he called for the cease-fire to be extended for a third time. He also made clear that Israel must do more to protect Palestinian civilians, something he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed with.
HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT ATTACKED ISRAELI TROOPS ON NORTHERN BORDER
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says its fighters attacked a group of Israeli soldiers on Friday along the border with Lebanon.
The attack is the first to be carried out by Hezbollah against Israeli troops along the border since a truce went into effect last Friday between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said in its terse statement that its fighters used “suitable weapons” against the Israeli force near an Israeli post known in Lebanon as Jal Allam. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said that following an initial report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, Israel’s military Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
The sirens regarding rockets and missiles were activated as a result of the interceptor launch, the military said.
Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli posts along the border since Oct. 8, a day after the Israel-Hamas war began.
Currently:
— Wartime Israel shows little tolerance for Palestinian dissent.
— AP Exclusive: Zelenskyy says Israel-Hamas war could divert attention from Ukraine’s conflict
— U.S. vice president heads to Dubai to talk climate and Israel-Hamas war.
— Nearly two months into the war, many Israelis have no idea if their relatives are dead or alive.
— Families reunite with 17 Thai hostages freed by Hamas.
— New York Times report says Israel knew about Hamas attack over a year in advance.
— Israeli music festival survivors seek to cope with trauma at a Cyprus retreat.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
