As ground forces in Israel expand attacks on the confined territory, there is heavy bombing in the northern part of Gaza.
With internet and mobile communications capabilities going down in Palestinian territory, Israel has increased the intensity of its assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
A prolonged sequence of massive explosions illuminated the sky above Gaza City on Friday night, and an Al Jazeera correspondent said that artillery and air strikes were hitting northern Gaza.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that all of its teams working on the ground and its operations room in Gaza were entirely cut off.
Ground forces were “expanding their activity” in Gaza, according to Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, who also stated that Israel intensified air raids “in a very significant way.”
As Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip intensified on Friday night, he ordered Gaza City inhabitants to relocate south.
According to Safwat Kahlout of Al Jazeera, who is reporting from Gaza City, “we could hear intense air strikes and intense artillery shells at the same time in the last two hours, which is something unusual, which means the strength of the fire is much greater than in the previous days.”
“The Israeli fire is at its strongest point today, and there are also some explosions audible from the sea, mainly in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.”The north is currently experiencing an increase in airstrikes and artillery shelling, he said.
Late on Friday, Jawwal, a Palestinian telecommunications operator, announced on social media that internet and mobile phone services had been suspended.
From Khan Younis in Gaza, Al Jazeera Tareq Abu Azzoum said on Friday, “We don’t have any internet; we don’t have any kind of signal on our phones; we’ve become totally isolated in the territory.” He described the locals as “terrified and afraid.”
The service disruption occurs as Palestinians prepare for what is expected to be an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. To overthrow Hamas, the militant Palestinian organization in charge of the region, Israeli leaders have threatened to launch a ground invasion. There have been sporadic raids in Gaza by Israeli military in recent days.
Since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 people, Israel has been bombing the strip nonstop.
Israel has placed a “complete siege” on Gaza following that attack, denying the 2.3 million people living in the enclave, who have few places to seek safety, access to gasoline, food, water, and electricity.
Due to Israel’s continuous blockade of Gaza, which has also resulted in sewage flowing into the streets, the UN issued a warning that “many more will die.”
“The consequences of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip are causing people to die; they are not just dying from bombs and strikes,” stated Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestine refugees.
“The basic services in Gaza are collapsing; there is a shortage of food, water, and medicine, and the streets are overflowing with sewage.”
