Gaza hit by telecoms blackout as Israeli tanks advance

GAZA: Israeli tanks were seen in two Gaza City areas that are gateways to the city centre, residents said on Thursday (Sep 18), while internet and phone lines were cut off across the Gaza Strip, a sign that ground operations were likely to escalate imminently.

Israeli forces control Gaza City's eastern suburbs and in recent days have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas, from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western areas where most of the population is sheltering.

Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said large numbers of troops, including infantry, tanks and artillery backed by the air force, had begun moving towards the inner city earlier this week, describing it as a gradual process that would intensify.

“The strategy right now is to defeat Hamas and apply pressure on Hamas, which can lead to a deal or can lead to rescue missions (to free hostages),” he told Reuters.

"The disconnection of internet and phone services is a bad omen. It has always been a bad signal something very brutal is going to happen," said Ismail, who only gave one name. He was using an e-SIM to connect his phone, a dangerous method as it requires seeking higher ground to receive a signal.

The Palestinian Telecommunications Company said in a statement that its services had been cut off "due to the ongoing aggression and the targeting of the main network routes".

At least 85 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes or gunfire across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, most in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said.

The Israeli military said four of its personnel had been killed during combat in southern Gaza.

MAIN NETWORK ROUTES TARGETED, TELECOMS COMPANY SAYS

The Palestinian Telecommunications Company said in a statement that its services had been cut off "due to the ongoing aggression and the targeting of the main network routes".

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment on the blackout.

In its latest update, the army said troops were expanding operations in Gaza City, dismantling “terror infrastructure” and “eliminating terrorists”, and continuing to operate in Khan Younis and Rafah. It also said its forces had struck Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon, while two Israelis were killed in what it called a “terror attack” at Allenby Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

In its latest statement to media, it said troops were expanding their operations in Gaza City, dismantling what it called "terror infrastructure" and "eliminating terrorists", and continuing to operate in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south. 

Israel says it wants to smash the Palestinian militant group Hamas in its strongholds and free the last hostages still being held in Gaza, but its latest major offensive after two years of devastating war has drawn international condemnation. 

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel announced on Aug 10 it intended to take control, but a greater number are staying put, either in battered homes among the ruins or in makeshift tent encampments.

PEOPLE SCARED OF OFFENSIVE BUT MANY HAVE NO WAY TO LEAVE

Bassam Al-Qanou, a displaced man sheltering with around 30 family members in a ragged improvised tent camp on the beach, said they had no way to get out, and nowhere to go.

"We are scared, but what can we do?" he said, adding that the children couldn't sleep because of fear and the incessant boom of missile strikes from sea, air and ground.

The military has been dropping leaflets urging residents to flee towards a designated "humanitarian zone" in the south of the territory, but aid agencies say conditions there are dire, with insufficient food, medicine and space and inadequate shelter.

The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that critical shortages of blood in Gaza hospitals could halt key services within days.

Four more Palestinians, including a child, have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, raising deaths from such causes to at least 435 people, including 147 children, since the war started.

Israel says the extent of hunger in Gaza has been exaggerated.

The Hamas armed wing said hostages captured on Oct 7, 2023, were spread across Gaza City neighbourhoods. “The start of this criminal operation and its expansion means you will not receive any captive, alive or dead,” it said in a statement.

Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Oct 7 attack, 48 remain in Gaza, with Israel estimating that around 20 are still alive. Families of hostages have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the offensive and negotiate, but he has insisted that military pressure will secure their release.

The Hamas-run government's media office said that a total of 3,542 people had been killed across the Gaza Strip from August 11, the day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to seize control of the territory, to Wednesday.

It said 56% of them were killed in Gaza City and the northern part of the enclave, and 44% in the central and southern areas, which it said demonstrated that Israel was trying to depopulate the north whilst not sparing the south.

Israel blames Hamas for the continuation of the war, saying the group could end it now if it surrendered, disarmed and disbanded.

TANKS SEEN IN TWO STRATEGICALLY LOCATED NEIGHBOURHOODS

Along the coastal road, an unbroken column of every type of vehicle from carts and beaten-up cars to vans designed to carry goods was moving south, heavily laden with mattresses, gas cylinders and entire families perching on their belongings.

"We are heading to go sleep on the streets towards the beach, like this barefoot, we don't know where to go," said Yasser Saleh, speaking as he stood on the edge of a rickety trailer being pulled by a car. In Sheikh Radwan, which is north of the city centre and has come under heavy bombardment in recent days, residents said they had seen tanks in the heart of their neighbourhood.

They also said Israeli forces had detonated four driverless vehicles full of explosives and the blasts had destroyed many houses.

Similar explosions had rocked Tel Al-Hawa, which is located southeast of the city centre, and residents there also reported seeing tanks in the streets.

The Israeli army said it does not comment on the deployment of its forces.

PALESTINIAN DEATH TOLL PASSES 65,000, HEALTH AUTHORITY SAYS

The total Palestinian death toll from the two-year war between Israel and Hamas surpassed 65,000 on Wednesday, according to the Gaza health authorities.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.