GAZA/CAIRO/ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER. Israeli tanks and infantry advanced toward central Gaza City on Thursday as telecommunications services were disrupted for several hours, marking a further escalation in the ongoing conflict.
The Israeli military said its forces, supported by artillery and air power, were gradually moving from the city’s eastern suburbs into more populated areas. “Since the night of Monday to Tuesday, large numbers of troops had begun moving towards the inner city,” Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told Reuters. He described the operation as “a gradual process that would increase as time went on.”
Residents reported mounting fear as strikes intensified in the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa districts. “We are scared, but what can we do?” said Bassam Al-Qanou, who is sheltering with around 30 family members in a makeshift camp along Gaza’s beach. “We have no way to get out, and nowhere to go.”
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 85 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, most of them in Gaza City. Israeli forces reported four soldiers killed in combat in southern Gaza.
Hostage families in Israel have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue negotiations with Hamas instead of continuing the offensive. The armed wing of Hamas said on Thursday that hostages had been dispersed across Gaza City, warning: “The start of this criminal operation and its expansion means you will not receive any captive, alive or dead.”
Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, responded on X: “If Hamas does not release the hostages and disarm, Gaza will be destroyed and turned into a monument to the rapists and murderers of Hamas.”
The Palestinian Telecommunications Company confirmed its services were cut “due to the ongoing aggression and the targeting of the main network routes.” Internet and phone services were gradually restored by nightfall. One Gaza resident, Ismail, said the blackout was ominous: “It has always been a bad signal something very brutal is going to happen.”
Humanitarian conditions remain dire. The World Health Organization warned Thursday that blood shortages could force hospitals to halt operations within days. Gaza’s health ministry reported four additional deaths from malnutrition, including a child, bringing the total to at least 435 deaths from starvation-related causes since the war began.
The conflict has displaced nearly half a million people from Gaza City, according to Israeli military estimates. Leaflets have urged residents to flee south to a designated “humanitarian zone,” though aid groups say conditions there lack food, medicine, and basic sanitation. Along the coastal road, streams of families were seen traveling south in vehicles and carts piled with belongings.
The overall Palestinian death toll since the start of the two-year war has surpassed 65,000, Gaza health authorities said. Israel’s figures state that 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the conflict. Officials say 48 hostages remain in Gaza, with around 20 still alive.
Israel also carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Thursday. Meanwhile, two Israelis were killed at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan in what the military described as a terror attack.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
