After hours of intense bombardment, information coming out of Gaza has been reduced to a trickle. Heavy Israeli air strikes have cut all communications in the besieged enclave, leaving Palestinians silenced.
The death toll of Palestinians stood at 7,300 earlier today, but that figure could be higher. Medics in the enclave have lost touch with the outside world.
Israel’s military said on Friday it was expanding its aerial and ground activity in Gaza. Hamas’s armed wing said it “foiled an Israeli ground incursion into Beit Hanoun and the east of Bureij”, adding that violent clashes with Israeli forces were ongoing.
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a non-binding resolution, brought forward by Jordan, calling for an “immediate ceasefire”. It was supported by 120 members, while fourteen voted against (including Israel and the US) and 45 abstained.
Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal claimed that Israel was planning to flood Hamas tunnels with a type of nerve gas or chemical weapon. Two days ago, MEE reported that Palestinian groups expected Israel to flood tunnels with a type of nerve gas or chemical weapon under the surveillance of US forces.
Internet observatory Netblocks and Palestinian telecommunications company Jawwal both confirmed that communications had been cut in Gaza. “The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world,” Jawwal said
The World Health Organisation, the Palestinian Red Crescent and many other organisations have completely lost all contact with their teams in Gaza. The Red Crescent said it may no longer be able to provide emergency medical services as a result.
Protests have broken out in several cities in the occupied West Bank, including Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarm, after Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza
Israel has threatened to bomb Gaza’s municipality building, a historic two-century old structure that houses the city’s administrative documents and archives.
Palestinian officials strongly denied the Israeli military’s claims that Hamas was using Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza as a command centre, inviting journalists to inspect the medical facility. A senior Hamas figure also warned that Israel’s accusations were a “prelude” to it targeting the hospital, which is currently sheltering around 40,000 Palestinians