Gaza’s fear and anger as ceasefire ends and fighting erupts
The resumption of fighting between Israel and Hamas has been met with a mixture of fear and anger in Gaza, with the UN calling it a “nightmare”.
A temporary ceasefire expired at 07:00 (05:00 GMT) with both warring sides blaming each other.
Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says 178 people have been killed in Israeli attacks.
A UN official said much-needed aid had stopped coming through the Rafah crossing since the ceasefire ended.
Areas targeted by air strikes included north-western Gaza and Khan Younis in the south – where hundreds of thousands of people fled earlier in the war to escape fighting in the north. Houses in the city were targeted – including one house in close proximity to Nasser hospital, where the BBC Arabic team was based.
“Around 06:30 the drones started flying,” Mohammad Ghalaiyini, a Briton who is currently in Khan Younis with his family, said in a voice message sent to the BBC. “Around 07:30, I think, the bombings started and there’s been like non-stop bombing every 10, 15, 20 minutes.”
Leaflets dropped by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned that areas east of Khan Younis and Salah al-Din were “dangerous” combat zones and urged people in some parts to head to shelters further south in Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.
Meanwhile, Hamas and other groups fired rockets at Israel, which deployed its Iron Dome defence system to intercept them.
On Friday morning, the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard in areas of northern Gaza infiltrated by the Israeli military, with clashes breaking out between Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters.
There seemed to be no let up in the pace of fighting after the ceasefire, with jet fighters and reconnaissance planes deployed.
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