The besieged residents of Gaza faced an almost complete blackout of communications and the Internet as Israeli warplanes dropped bombs and the entry of its forces and armored vehicles into the Hamas-ruled Strip, with Israeli army commanders indicating that they were preparing for an expanded ground attack.
A long and difficult campaign
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Netanyahu warned Israelis to expect a “long and difficult” campaign, but stopped short of describing the current incursions as an invasion. American officials said that some aides to US President Joe Biden advised their Israeli counterparts to postpone launching an immediate, comprehensive attack.
Although initial ground operations appear limited at the present time, Netanyahu pledged to spare no effort to free more than 200 hostages, including Americans and other foreigners, held by Hamas.
Netanyahu told reporters, “This is the second phase of the war, whose goals are clear, which is to destroy Hamas’s ruling and military capabilities and return the hostages.”
“We are only at the beginning. We will destroy the enemy above and below the ground,” he added.
Israel has tightened its siege and bombed Gaza for 3 weeks since the devastating attack launched by Hamas on October 7.
More than 8,000 Palestinians killed
Western countries generally support what they say is Israel’s right to defend itself. But there is growing international outrage over the number of victims of the bombing, while calls are increasing for a “humanitarian truce” to allow aid to reach civilians in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million, say that more than 8,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli bombing.
The crisis led to hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in cities across Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, “Our people in the Gaza Strip are being subjected to a genocidal war and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in full view of the entire world.”
With many buildings reduced to rubble and finding shelter difficult, Gazans are suffering from shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine. Their plight has worsened since Friday night when communications and internet services were cut off, followed by heavy shelling throughout the night. The communications outage continued until Sunday.
“May God help anyone under the rubble,” said one journalist in Gaza, who spent a terrifying night on the stairs of a building as bombs fell and Israeli forces apparently exchanged fire with Palestinian fighters.
The chief Israeli military spokesman refused to say whether Israel was behind the communications outage in Gaza, but said that it would do what was necessary to protect its forces.
Targeting the maze of Hamas tunnels
Israel sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Friday evening, focusing on infrastructure including the extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the IDF said. He did not provide details about the extent of the spread.
Yesterday, Saturday, Netanyahu repeated Israel’s call for Palestinian civilians to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel is focusing its attack on Hamas hideouts and other facilities.
But Palestinians say nowhere is safe, as bombs also destroyed homes in the densely populated south of the enclave.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes.” Diplomats said that the United Nations Security Council intends to meet on Monday to discuss the crisis between Israel and Gaza.
Billionaire Elon Musk offered the network operating his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications service in Gaza to “internationally recognized relief organizations.”
Israel responded that it would oppose the move, saying Hamas would “use it for terrorist activities.”
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