With the start on Friday, the "local, tactical pauses" promised in the warfare will be cancelled, the military announces according to Israeli media.
This likely means that aid deliveries to the suffering population will be cut off or stopped.
Ten-hour pauses
In July, the military announced that daily, ten-hour "humanitarian pauses" would be observed in al-Mawasi, Dayr al-Balah and Gaza City. These would take place between 10 am and 8 pm, and be coordinated with the UN and international aid organizations. The order came after several organizations warned of famine and starvation in the heavily war-torn area and Israel received harsh criticism from the outside world.
Friday's statement that the pauses will be cancelled comes after assessments on the ground and political directives, according to AFP.
Hostages returned
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of August that Israel intends to take full control over the entire Gaza. His government has approved an invasion of Gaza City, which is the capital of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and one of the few parts of the area that Israel does not already have full military control over. The first phase of the offensive is said to have begun last week.
On Friday, Israel reports that the military has recovered the bodies of two hostages and a man who died during a terrorist-stamped Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war. Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas, about 50 are still in Gaza, of which about 20 are estimated by Israel to be alive.
