TEL AVIV, December 1. /TASS/. The Hamas movement violated the truce and the Israeli army resumed combat in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

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

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army reported that air raid sirens had gone off in communities near Gaza and a launch from the enclave had been intercepted.

Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The Gaza ceasefire took effect at 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24. The agreement stipulates the release of women and teenagers under the age of 19 who are held in Gaza in exchange for the release of women and teenagers under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons. On November 27, the parties agreed to extend the truce for two more days and on the morning of November 30, it was extended for another day.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking about 240 people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched ground operations in the enclave, also carrying out air strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.