Hours after Israel announced it was restarting its offensive against Hamas early Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters it was “important to understand” that the seven-day pause in fighting in Gaza came to an end “because of Hamas.”
“Hamas reneged on commitments it made — in fact, even before the pause came to end, had committed an atrocious terrorist attack in Jerusalem, killing three people, wounding others, including Americans,” Blinken said, referring to a Thursday bus stop shooting claimed by the group's military wing. “It began firing rockets before pause had ended. And as I said, it reneged on commitments it made in terms of releasing certain hostages.”
The Israel Defense Forces has accused Hamas of violating the truce first by firing rockets toward Israeli territory.
On Gaza civilians: Blinken, who boarded his plane to leave Israel moments after the IDF announced it would resume fighting, also said Friday that he has already seen Israel “take steps immediately today” to protect civilians from its renewed operations.
Those steps included the IDF's efforts to "get information to people about where safe areas are, how they can get out of harm’s way," Blinken told reporters in Dubai before boarding a flight back to the US.
The IDF dropped leaflets in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis Friday, calling it a “fighting zone” and telling residents to “evacuate immediately.” The leaflets included a QR code that connects to a map; however, extensive damage to telecommunications and power infrastructure in Gaza has left many residents without access to the internet.
More context: In the hours before the latest fighting erupted, the United States ramped up its pressure on Israel to shield Palestinian civilians.
Blinken laid out American requirements in private talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet, while also making the US position clear in public statements.
“I underscored the imperative of the United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the south,” Blinken said in a televised news conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
The IDF said Friday that new combat operations will include southern parts of the strip, where it previously told civilians to take shelter.
CNN's Stephen Collinson contributed reporting to this post.