Heavy gunfire and shelling have been reported in the north and east of the Gaza Strip.

This came at around 7am local time (05:00GMT) on Friday, just as the deadline for the end of the Israel-Hamas truce passed with no extension agreement announced.

Reports of rockets and gunfire had emerged in the hour before the temporary truce expired. Israel said Hamas had violated the agreement.

“Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory,” the Israeli Defence Forces said in a post on X on Friday. “The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.”

There are now reports of heavy gunfire and shelling in the north and east of Gaza. Al Jazeera journalists in the enclave said Israeli air raids have resumed and aircraft could be heard hovering overhead.

Witnesses in Gaza City said heavy clashes were taking place between Palestinian fighting groups and Israeli troops. There were also reports of air raids and artillery fire in the city. In central Gaza, Israeli tanks were shelling near Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps.

The seven-day pause in fighting, which began on November 24 and was extended twice, had allowed for the exchange of dozens of hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip.

More to come …