After negotiations to prolong a week-old truce failed, Israel’s war against Hamas resumed, and its warplanes bombarded Gaza, causing residents to flee and sending wounded and dead Palestinians into hospitals.
Journalists from Reuters stationed in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, witnessed heavy bombardment of eastern areas as the deadline drew near, with smoke billowing into the sky. People fled westward on carts, their possessions piled high, as they took to the road.
Within hours of the truce expiring, Gaza health officials reported that 54 people had already been killed and dozens wounded in air strikes that hit at least eight homes.
The bombing of the southern parts of the enclave has reportedly caused Gazans to fear that the war will soon spread to areas that Israel has previously deemed safe.
Leaflets dropped on eastern areas of the main southern city of Khan Younis ordered residents of four towns to evacuate—not to other areas in Khan Younis as in the past, but further south to the crowded town of Rafah on the Egyptian border.
“You have to evacuate immediately and go to the shelters in the Rafah area. Khan Younis is a dangerous fighting zone. You have been warned,” said the leaflets, written in Arabic.
The pause, which began on November 24 and was twice extended, allowed for daily exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian detainees while aid trucks brought in.
80 Israelis—primarily women and children—and another 24 foreign nationals from Gaza.
As of Thursday, 240 Palestinians had been freed from Israeli prisons, mainly women and minors.
Qatar, which has played a central role in mediation efforts, said negotiations were still ongoing with Israelis and Palestinians to restore the truce, but that Israel’s renewed bombardment of Gaza had complicated its efforts.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.
Hamas, sworn to Israel’s destruction, has ruled Gaza since 2007.
