Israeli forces are conducting a ground operation against Hamas in Gaza in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week war aimed at wiping out the Palestinian militant group, reports RTE.
But telephone and internet connections in Gaza, severed late Friday when Israeli warplanes dropped bombs and its troops stormed the Hamas-ruled enclave, were slowly returning today, Palestinian media reported.
Rescue operations were affected due to communication breakdowns and those injured in the airstrikes could not call for help.
Israeli fighter jets dropped leaflets over Gaza yesterday, warning residents that the area has now become a “war zone” that shelters in northern Gaza are unsafe and that they should “evacuate immediately,” reports RTE.
The army issued similar warnings early in its campaign, but many who fled the south returned home unable to find shelter from Israeli bombardment.
The Israeli army posted a video online overnight in which it said it was expanding its so-called “operation” in Gaza and moving into the next phase.
It said residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City should be warned to move south for their own safety.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said civilians should go south “to a safer area where they can receive water, food and medicine”, vowing that “the humanitarian efforts to Gaza, led by Egypt and the United States, will be expanding”, reports RTE.
Commenting on the looting of flour and other staples in Gaza, UNRWA said in a statement: “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza. God help anyone under the rubble,” said one Gaza journalist, who spent a tnight in a building stairway as bombs fell and Israeli forces appeared to exchange fire with Palestinian fighters,” reports RTE.
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