Fighting Between Hamas-Israel Continues As Truce Expires

Fighting between Israel and Hamas continued on Thursday as a temporary truce agreement came to an end.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Hamas had "violated the operation pause" and fired rockets in the direction of Israel.

"Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory," the IDF wrote. "The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza."

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1730455649815822608

The continuation of fighting between Israel and Hamas comes after a pause in fighting began on Nov. 24, as part of a hostage release agreement.

As a result of the weeklong pause in fighting, more than 100 hostages out of the more than 240 Israelis taken captive in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, were released.

In response to the fighting resuming, the IDF released a map that divided Gaza into numbered districts showing evacuation routes for civilians to use as the war continues.

"Since the beginning of the war in Gaza against the Hamas terrorist organization, it has been using the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields, planting its headquarters and military infrastructure in their residential areas, hospitals, mosques, and schools, converting civilian sites to military targets, in violation of the international law on the rules of war, which explicitly stipulates that civilians should not be used as human shields," the IDF wrote. "The IDF takes all possible precautions to avoid causing loss of civilian life or injury, adopting all available means."

Additionally, the IDF passed out leaflets to residents in southern Gaza, urging them to move from the Khan Yunis area to Rafah.

The resume of fighting comes a day after two Hamas gunmen opened fire on people at a bus stop in Jerusalem, leaving three people dead and six others injured.

Eight hostages were released by Hamas on Thursday, and in exchange Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is believed to still have more than 140 hostages, according to the Associated Press .