Latest Developments:
Israel ramps up the intensity of its strikes on the Gaza Strip
Israel's military spokesman says ground forces were also "expanding their activity" Friday night
Internet, cellphone and landline service are lost across the area, which had already lost most of its electricity
Hamas media chief denies the militants have installations around Gaza's largest hospital
Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified Israeli bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was expanding ground operations in the besieged territory.
The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago.
Explosions from a barrage of airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday when the blackout in internet, cellular and landline services hit. Already plunged into darkness after most electricity was cut off weeks ago, Palestinians were now thrown into isolation, huddled in homes and shelters, with food and water supplies running out. The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the “complete disruption” was due to bombardment.
Casualties from new airstrikes could not be immediately known in the information blackout. The Red Crescent said it could not reach its medical teams and that residents could no longer call ambulances, meaning rescuers will have to chase the sound of explosions to find those wounded from strikes. International aid groups said they were able to reach a few staff only by using satellite phones.
Relatives outside Gaza panicked after their messaging chats with families inside suddenly went dead and calls stopped going through.
“I was so scared this was going to happen,” said Wafaa Abdul Rahman, director of a feminist organization based in Ramallah, West Bank. She said she hadn’t heard for hours from family in central Gaza.
“We’ve been seeing these horrible things and massacres when it’s live on TV, so now what will happen when there’s a total blackout?” she said, referring to scenes of families that have been crushed in homes by airstrikes over the past weeks.
‘Acting with great force’
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said ground forces were “expanding their activity” Friday evening in Gaza and “acting with great force … to achieve the objectives of the war.” Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate from among civilians, putting them in danger.
Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. Earlier Friday, the military said ground forces had conducted their second hourslong incursion inside Gaza in as many days, striking dozens of militant targets over the past 24 hours.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that Israel expected a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon. It “will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas’ vast network of tunnels, he said, adding that he expected a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroyed “pockets of resistance.”
His comments pointed to a potentially grueling and open-ended new phase of the war after three weeks of relentless bombardment. Israel has said it aims to crush Hamas’ rule in Gaza and its ability to threaten Israel. But how Hamas’ defeat will be measured and what an invasion’s endgame is remain unclear. Israel says it does not intend to rule the tiny territory of 2.3 million Palestinians, but it does not say whom it expects to govern — even as Gallant suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has soared past 7,300, more than 60% of them minors and women, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. A blockade on Gaza has meant dwindling supplies, and the U.N. warned that its aid operation helping hundreds of thousands of people was “crumbling” amid near-depleted fuel reserves.
More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during Hamas’ October 7 attack, according to the Israeli government, and at least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza. Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, including one that hit a residential building in Tel Aviv on Friday, wounding four people.
The overall number of deaths far exceeds the combined toll of all four previous Israel-Hamas wars, estimated at 4,000.
Syria, Egypt
The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region.
U.S. warplanes struck targets in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after a string of attacks on American forces. Two mysterious explosions hit Red Sea coastal towns in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, wounding six people. Israel’s Foreign Ministry blamed Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have tried to fire rockets toward Israel since the war began.
A ground invasion is expected to cause even higher casualties as Israeli forces and Hamas battle in dense residential areas.
Gazan hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other lifesaving equipment since Israel cut off fuel deliveries at the start of the war, forcing its only power plant to shut down.
Gallant said Israel believes that Hamas would confiscate any fuel that enters. He said Hamas uses generators to pump air into its hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, which originate in civilian areas. He showed reporters aerial footage of what he said was a tunnel shaft built right next to a hospital.
“For air, they need oil. For oil, they need us,” he said.
Late Friday, the army released photos showing what it said were Hamas installations in and around Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel has made such claims before, but it declined to say how the photos were obtained.
Little is known about Hamas’ tunnels and other infrastructure. Claims by the military and Gallant couldn’t be verified.
Speaking at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Hamas media chief Salama Moussa called Israel’s claims “lies” and said they were “a precursor for striking this facility.”
“I ring the alarm bell. There is imminent danger hovering above the medical facility” and those in it, Moussa said. The hospital has been overwhelmed by thousands of patients and wounded, and around 40,000 displaced Gaza residents have crowded in and around its grounds for shelter, the U.N. said.
Asked if there were plans to target al-Shifa, military spokesman Hagari said, “We will not be able to allow terror activity against Israel from hospitals and we will have to, together with the rest of the world, confront this red flag.” He said Hamas uses “its own population as a human shield.”
…