By Turgut Alp Boyraz and Zeynep Tufekci Gulay
BEIRUT (AA) - The Israeli army announced Friday morning that it had resumed attacks in the Gaza Strip as a humanitarian pause that had been in place for a week came to an end.
The pause had begun early on Nov. 24 as part of an agreement between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas to temporarily halt the fighting and strikes in Gaza for the release of hostages and prisoners on both sides, as well as the delivery of aid into the besieged enclave.
Claiming that Hamas "violated the agreement and fired missiles towards Israeli territory," the army spokesman said in a statement that Israeli forces "reactivated fire" against the group in the Gaza Strip.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza noted that Israeli warplanes "started flying over Gaza after the humanitarian pause ended."
In a statement, the ministry said "Israeli planes are flying over Gaza Strip," adding that "Israeli tanks and naval boats are firing missiles towards northern Gaza as the humanitarian pause ended."
Heavy gunfire and Israeli artillery shelling in the eastern Gaza Strip resumed as the humanitarian pause ended, according to an Anadolu correspondent on the ground.
Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian factions are also underway in the northern and central Gaza Strip, the correspondent also reported.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara