Gaza loses internet and phone service as Israeli tanks advance

BarcelonaInternet and telephone connections were down in Gaza on Thursday as Israeli tanks advance in two areas of Gaza City. Israeli troops are entering from the southeast and northwest of the city. cornering the population of the capital of the Strip, who can only flee west, to the sea. The Palestinian telecommunications company said in a statement that its services have been cut off "due to the continued aggression and the impact on the main network routes."

"The disconnection of internet and telephone services is a bad omen. It has always been a bad sign that something very brutal is going to happen," a Gazan named Ismail told Reuters. He used an e-SIM to connect his phone and moved to high ground, thereby establishing integration. "The situation around me is very desperate. People are in tents and fear for their lives. Many cannot afford to leave, but many do not want to," the witness explained from the beach in Gaza City.

Israeli forces They now control the eastern suburbs of the city and have been relentlessly shelling the areas of Sheikh Radwan and Tel al-Hawa, where residents reported seeing tanks advancing through the streets. At least 79 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip, mostly in the capital, in the past 24 hours, the Strip's Health Ministry announced midday. In what is now the third day of Israel's ground military offensive on Gaza City, four more Palestinians died of starvation in the last day, bringing the total number of deaths from starvation to 435. Since October 7, 2023, 65,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel announced on August 10 that it intended to take control, but most have stayed, either eking out a living in the rubble of their destroyed homes or in makeshift camps, some of them on the beach itself. The army has been dropping leaflets urging residents to flee to the designated so-called "humanitarian zone" in the south of the territory, but shelling is also common in that area, where there is no space, food, or medicine left.

The children do not sleep because they are afraid

"We are scared, but what can we do?" Bassam Al Qanou, a displaced man sheltering with about 30 relatives in a makeshift tent camp on the beach in Gaza City, told Reuters. He said the children cannot sleep because of fear and the relentless missile bombardment from land, sea, and air.

The Israeli military has explained that its troops are expanding operations in Gaza City and dismantling what it called "terrorist infrastructure" and "terrorists." This latest statement to the media did not mention the telecommunications blackout or give any details about tank movements. Israel said on Wednesday it was opening an additional route out of the city for 48 hours and urged civilians to move south. But apart from Gaza City, the Israeli military also continues to operate in Khan Yunis and Rafah, in the south of the Strip.