Israeli ground forces are inside Gaza after entering the enclave overnight, as Palestinians experienced what they have described as the most intense round of airstrikes since Israel began its retaliation against Hamas\u2019 October 7 terror attack. <\/p>\n
Israeli forces \u201cwent into the Gaza Strip and expanded the ground operation where infantry, armor and engineer units and artillery with heavy fire are taking part,\u201d Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe forces are in the field and continue the fighting,\u201d he added, without giving further details. <\/p>\n
Hagari\u2019s words confirm the military operation has undergone a significant expansion after what it had earlier described as two \u201ctargeted raids,\u201d which took place on Wednesday night and Thursday night. Both those raids saw ground forces withdraw after a few hours. <\/p>\n
However, it does not appear as though any major ground offensive aimed at seizing and holding significant amounts of the territory is yet underway. In a fresh call for Gazans to move south, the IDF spoke of an \u201cimpending\u201d operation. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s\u00a0Defense\u00a0Minister\u00a0Yoav Gallant said his country had entered \u201ca new phase in the war.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, the ground in Gaza shook,\u201d he said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe attacked above ground and below ground. We attacked terrorist operatives at all levels, in all places. The instructions to our forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order is given.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the goals of this stage of the war are to destroy Hamas and return the more than 200 hostages the militant group took on October 7 and still holds in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu confirmed he spoke with family members of the hostages and said he vowed to them that he would exhaust all options to return their loved ones home. <\/p>\n
The IDF said on Saturday that its warplanes hit 150 underground targets in the north of the enclave, striking what it called terror tunnels and underground combat spaces and killing several Hamas operatives. <\/p>\n
Hagari said Gazans who had moved south of Wadi Gaza, a waterway bisecting the center of the strip, were in an area he called a \u201cprotected space,\u201d and would receive more food, water and medicine today, though he did not give any details. <\/p>\n
More than 2 million people live in the enclave, which spans just 140 square miles and is one of the most densely-populated places on Earth. For weeks, people living in the territory have faced Israeli airstrikes and a growing humanitarian situation, with shortages of water, food and fuel. <\/p>\n
At least 7,650 people have been killed and more than 19,450 more injured in Israeli attacks on\u00a0Gaza\u00a0since October 7, according to the latest figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. <\/p>\n
Gazans mourned the loss of their loved ones on Saturday following a night of intense Israeli airstrikes, with many gathering at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah in central Gaza. <\/p>\n
Hospitals have lost contact with each other, he said, after communications networks were cut across the strip. \u201cPeople are desperate to find some news about their loved ones and their families,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Al-Dikran said that after a pause of several hours, airstrikes had resumed again in central and northern Gaza, adding that artillery fire had continued uninterrupted through the night. <\/p>\n
The IDF on Saturday conducted heavy artillery strikes against northern Gaza, with multiple explosions heard every minute. <\/p>\n
Israeli troops have cleared out a large perimeter around the Gaza Strip, fearing incoming anti-tank weapons. <\/p>\n
Communications in the enclave have been severely disrupted, leaving aid agencies out of touch with their staff on the ground. <\/p>\n
The World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday morning that reports of the intense bombardment are \u201cextremely distressing.\u201d He added: \u201cWe are still out of touch with our staff and health facilities. I\u2019m worried about their safety.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said that it is \u201cnot possible\u201d to evacuate patients or find safe shelter under such circumstances, and the \u201cblackout is also making it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured.\u201d <\/p>\n
The WHO posted on social media that health workers, patients and civilians in Gaza spent the night \u201cin darkness and fear\u201d as they were \u201csubject to a total communication and electrical blackout.\u201d <\/p>\n
The organization said hospitals across Gaza are operating at maximum capacity, unable to take in new patients whilst also \u201csheltering thousands of civilians.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more [people] wounded every hour,\u201d the WHO said. \u201cBut ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children.\u201d <\/p>\n
It reiterated a call for \u201cimmediate humanitarian ceasefire,\u201d adding that safe passage must also be ensured for \u201cdesperately needed medical supplies, fuel, water and food into and across Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n
Several United Nations agencies have also reported losing contact with their local staff in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Elon Musk said SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite communications network would support internet connectivity for internationally recognized relief organizations in the besieged enclave. <\/p>\n
In response, Israel\u2019s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said that the government \u201cwill use all means at its disposal to fight this.\u201d In a statement posted on X, Karhi wrote there is \u201cno doubt\u201d that the service would be used by Hamas \u201cfor terrorist activities.\u201d <\/p>\n
While communications are largely severed within the territory, according to the local telecoms provider Jawwal, those with Israeli or international SIMs appear to have some patchy connections. <\/p>\n
The expanded operation has left families of the more than 200 hostages taken to Gaza fearful for their loved ones. <\/p>\n
A group lobbying for the families of Israeli hostages spoke of \u201cthe most terrible of all nights\u201d as emotions spiked with the IDF\u2019s expansion of its ground operation. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnxiety, frustration, and especially enormous anger that none of the war cabinet bothered to meet with the families of the hostages to explain one thing \u2013 whether the ground operation endangers the well-being of the 229 hostages in Gaza,\u201d said the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. <\/p>\n
Hagari told reporters on Friday that the IDF had notified the families of hostages about the expanded operations and reiterated the military was \u201ccommitted to the national task of returning all hostages.\u201d <\/p>\n