JERUSALEM – Israel on Saturday expanded its ground operation in Gaza with infantry and armored cars sponsored via “massive” moves from the air and sea, together with the bombing of Hamas tunnels — a key goal in its marketing campaign to overwhelm the territory’s ruling staff after its bloody incursion in Israel 3 weeks in the past.
The bombardment additionally knocked out communications in Gaza, making a near-blackout of information from the besieged enclave and in large part slicing off the territory’s 2.3 million other folks from the out of doors global.
The army launched grainy pictures Saturday appearing of tank columns shifting slowly in open spaces of Gaza and stated warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers.
“The forces are still on the ground and are continuing the war,” stated the military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, indicating that the following degree has begun in what is predicted to adapt into an all-out ground offensive in northern Gaza.
Early in the battle, Israel had already accumulated loads of hundreds of troops alongside the border. Until now, troops had performed transient nightly ground incursions ahead of returning to Israel.
Hagari stated the ground forces have been sponsored via what he described as huge moves from the air and sea. He stated two key Hamas army commanders have been killed in a single day, arguing that Israel used to be dealing with a “weakened” enemy. There used to be no rapid affirmation from Hamas.
Communications in Gaza have been knocked out via Israel’s intense bombardment overdue Friday, enabling the army to in large part keep an eye on the narrative all through a key new section in preventing. Palestinians have been thrown into isolation, huddling in properties and shelters with meals and water provides operating out. Electricity used to be knocked out via Israel in the early phases of the battle.
With the web lower, Palestinians in Gaza traveled via foot or automotive to test on their kin and buddies after an evening of airstrikes described via some as essentially the most intense that they had witnessed, even all through earlier Gaza wars.
“The bombs were everywhere, the building was shaking,” stated Hind al-Khudary, a journalist in central Gaza and one in all a couple of other folks with mobile phone carrier. “We can’t reach anyone or contact anyone. I do not know where my family is.”
The lack of web and telephones additionally dealt an extra blow to a scientific and support machine that reduction employees say used to be already at the breaking point underneath Israel’s weekslong seal. More than 1.4 million other folks have fled their properties, just about part crowding into U.N. faculties and shelters. Aid employees say the trickle of support Israel has allowed to go into from Egypt the previous week is a tiny fraction of what’s wanted.
Gaza hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency turbines that energy incubators and different life-saving apparatus.
The U.N. company for Palestinian refugees, which runs an in depth community of shelters and faculties for almost part the displaced Gaza citizens, has misplaced touch with maximum of its team of workers, spokeswoman Juliette Touma stated Saturday. She stated that coordinating support efforts used to be now “extremely challenging.”
Tedros Adhanom, head of the World Health Organization, said the blackout has made it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured. “We are still out of touch with our staff and health facilities. I’m worried about their safety,” he wrote at the X platform, previously referred to as Twitter.
The intensified air and ground campaign also raised new concerns about dozens of hostages dragged into Gaza on Oct. 7. On Saturday, hundreds of relatives of hostages gathered in a square in downtown Tel Aviv, demanding to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallat.
Some in the group demanded that Israel push for the release of all hostages before proceeding with the campaign against Hamas. Protesters wore shirts emblazoned with the faces of their missing relatives under the word “kidnapped” and the phrases “Bring them again.”
The households “feel like they’re they’re left behind and no one is really caring about them,” stated Miki Haimovitz, a former lawmaker and spokeswoman for the crowd. “No one is talking to them. No one is explaining what’s going on.”
In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi stated his executive used to be running to de-escalate the warfare thru its talks with the fighters to liberate prisoners and hostages. He didn’t supply additional main points.
Hagari, the military spokesman, stated the showed choice of hostages used to be 229, after 4 have been launched in contemporary days thru mediation via Qatar and Egypt. He disregarded media studies a few imaginable cease-fire deal in change for the discharge of hostages, pronouncing Hamas used to be engaged in a “cynical exploitation” of the anxieties of relatives of hostages.
The communications blackout in Gaza also heightened the anxiety of Palestinians with relatives in the territory. Wafaa Abdul Rahman, director of a feminist organization based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 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 stated, regarding scenes of households which have been beaten in properties via airstrikes during the last weeks.
Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate from among civilians, putting them in danger.
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.
More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israeli government. Among those killed were at least 311 soldiers, according to the military.
Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
The general choice of deaths a ways exceeds the blended toll of all 4 earlier Israel-Hamas wars, estimated at around 4,000.
Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said Friday that Israel expects 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 expects a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “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 an invasion’s endgame remain unclear. Israel says it does not intend to rule the tiny territory but not who it expects to govern — even as Gallant suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue.
In Washington, the Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Gallant on Friday and “underscored the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ operations and focusing on the urgency of humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza.” The Pentagon said Austin also brought up “the need for Hamas to release all of the hostages.”
The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region. Arab nations — including U.S. allies and ones that have reached peace deals or normalized ties with Israel — have raised increasing alarm over a potential ground invasion, likely to bring even higher casualties amid urban fighting.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press creator Samya Kullab contributed from Baghdad.
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