By Israeli forces resume full-scale combat operations in Gaza Strip, announces IDF radio station
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is resuming full-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip, as no talks on releasing hostages are currently underway, Israel’s Galei Tzahal Army Radio Station reported, citing an anonymous source in Israeli political circles.
“We are resuming full-scale combat; there are no negotiations on releasing hostages,” the radio station quoted the unnamed official as saying.
Radio Kan, also citing a source in political circles, stated that another reason for ending the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants was the failure of the radical Palestinian movement to provide the Israelis with a new list of hostages slated to be released. The U.S.-based Axios news website reported, citing another Israeli official, that Israel had continued to conduct talks overnight with Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries, but that this effort had not produced the desired result.
IDF accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and announced renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip. Not long before that, the army press service twice reported air raid sirens going off in locations near the embattled enclave and air defense systems intercepting at least one projectile fired from Gaza at Israeli territory. It marked the first time air raid alerts had sounded in areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip since November 24.
The Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas failed to deliver on its promise to release more hostages as part of an extended truce as it fired rockets at Israel, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“The Hamas terror organization reneged on the deal to free all women held as hostages and launched rockets at Israeli citizens,” the Israeli PM’s office said in a statement. “With the resumption of fighting we emphasize: The Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war – to free our hostages, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never pose a threat to the residents of Israel,” the statement reads.
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