The truce in the fighting in Gaza, ended early on Friday after 105 hostages including 81 Israelis, were freed from Hamas captivity. Rockets were launched at the Gaza border area about an hour before the deadline that would have extended the truce, expired.
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"Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory," the military said in a statement. "The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip."
Hamas had until 7 a.m. local time to submit the names of hostages that would be released on Friday but failed to do so. Israel made clear to mediators that without the names of 10 hostages being given, the fighting would resume.
Instead, the terror group began launching rockets at Israeli communities. The fire continued with dozens of attacks on the border region and as far north as Ashkelon. No injuries were reported, and the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted the rockets.
"We are back to forceful fighting," an official said. In fact, the fighting was expected to resume in the next few days after the release of women and children is complete. There are currently 13 women known to still be in captivity.
The two little boys of the Bibas family, abducted with their mother Shiri on October 7 are also believed to be in Hamas hands despite the terrorists claiming the had been killed. Yarden Bibas, the family's father was seen on Thursday in a video clip filmed by Hamas, speaking about the death of his wife and two boys. The IDF said it cannot confirm that they were killed.