With a total communications blackout in Gaza, it is difficult to confirm the Israeli army’s announcement.
The Israeli army has claimed it has surrounded Gaza City and split the besieged coastal strip in two, as Gaza suffered a total communications blackout for the third time since the war began.
“Today there is North Gaza and South Gaza,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters on Sunday, calling it an “important phase” in Israel’s war against Hamas.
Israeli media reported that troops are expected to enter Gaza City within 48 hours. After nightfall, strong explosions were observed in northern Gaza.
But the “collapse of connectivity” across Gaza, reported by the internet access organization NetBlocks.org and confirmed by the Palestinian telecom company Paltel, further complicated the task of conveying details of the new phase of the military offensive.
“We have lost communication with the vast majority of UNRWA team members,” Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN Palestinian refugee agency, told the Associated Press. The first power outage in Gaza lasted 36 hours, the second a few hours.
The Israeli bombardment continues
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck two refugee camps in central Gaza, killing at least 53 people and wounding dozens, health officials said.
Israel said it would continue its offensive against Hamas despite US calls for even brief pauses to provide aid to desperate civilians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said more than 9,700 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children, have been killed in the area during nearly a month of war. That toll is likely to rise as Israeli forces push into densely populated urban neighborhoods.
Airstrikes hit the Maghazi refugee camp overnight, killing at least 40 people and wounding 34 others, the Health Ministry said.
The camp is located in the zone where the Israeli army had called on Palestinian civilians to take refuge.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Another airstrike hit a house near a school in the Bureji refugee camp in central Gaza. At least 13 people were killed, according to Al-Aqsa hospital staff. The camp was also hit on Thursday.
Despite calls and demonstrations abroad, Israel has continued its bombing of Gaza. Critics say Israeli attacks are often disproportionate given the large number of civilians killed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a day after a meeting with Arab foreign ministers.