The Israeli military said on Friday that its fighter jets have begun striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement came 30 minutes after the cease-fire expired at 0500 GMT on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Israel accused Hamas of having violated the terms of the cease-fire, including by firing rockets toward Israel from Gaza.

“Hama violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory. The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas war expired on Friday morning, without immediate word from mediator Qatar on an extension.

The halt in fighting began a week ago, on November 24. It initially lasted for four days, and then was extended for several days with the help of Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt.

During the truce, the Islamic terror outfit Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel.

Virtually all of those freed were women and children.