Scores reported killed as war resumes in Gaza after truce collapses

UN says hostilities catastrophic, calls for efforts to be intensified to ensure ceasefire

Israel resumed pounding Gaza, Palestinian civilians fled for shelter and rocket sirens blared in southern Israel on Dec 1, as war resumed after a week-old truce ran out with no deal to extend it.

Gaza's eastern areas came under intense bombardment, sending columns of smoke rising into the sky. Civilians took to the streets to flee for shelter farther west.

In the north of the enclave, the main war zone for weeks, huge plumes of smoke rose above the ruins. The staccato rattle of gunfire and thud of explosions rang out above the sound of barking dogs.

Within hours after the truce expired, Gaza health officials reported that 109 people had already been killed and dozens wounded in air strikes that hit at least eight homes.

"With the resumption of fighting we emphasise: the Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war to free our hostages, to eliminate Hamas and to ensure that Gaza will never pose a threat to the residents of Israel," the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Hamas was also defiant.

"What Israel did not achieve during the 50 days before the truce, it will not achieve by continuing its aggression after the truce," Mr Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said on the group's website.

The United Nations deplored the resumption of war in Gaza, describing the hostilities as "catastrophic".

"I urge all parties and states with influence over them to redouble efforts, immediately, to ensure a ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.