TEL AVIV, December 3. /TASS/. Israeli warplanes have delivered more than 10,000 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of its military operation in the enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Since the beginning of the war, approximately 10,000 airstrikes were carried out under the guidance of IDF soldiers on the ground in short time frames," it said. "The soldiers quickly completed missions and thwarted terrorist cells, terrorist infrastructure, command centers, tunnel shafts, weapons depots and more."

"Following Hamas’ violation of the operational pause agreement, the fighting in the Gaza Strip has resumed, and the IDF soldiers are continuing the ground operation in full cooperation with aircraft of the IAF. The cooperation between the ground forces and the IAF is one of the most prominent elements in the IDF’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

On November 22, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on the morning of December 1 that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.