War in Gaza resumes, dozens of Palestinians killed as truce collapses

Israeli warplanes resumed pounding Gaza, Palestinian civilians fled for shelter and rocket sirens blared in southern Israel on Friday as war resumed after a week-long truce ran out with no deal to extend it. As the deadline lapsed, cities in southern Gaza came under intensive bombardment, sending columns of smoke rising into the sky as residents took to the streets looking for shelter in areas not yet being targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces. 

In the north of the enclave, the main war zone for weeks, huge plumes of smoke rose above the ruins, seen from across the fence in Israel. Barely two hours after the truce expired, Gaza health officials reported that 35 people had already been killed and dozens wounded in air strikes that hit at least eight homes.

Medics and witnesses said the bombing was most intensive in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and also targeted houses in central and northern areas.

"Anas, my son, I don't have anyone but you my son!" cried the mother of Anas Anwar al-Masri, a boy lying on a stretcher with a head injury in the corridor of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. "He is my only boy!"

UNICEF on Friday appealed for a lasting ceasefire to be implemented in Gaza, describing inaction as "an approval of the killing of children."