The Israeli military spokesman tells residents of Gaza City to move south, after announcing the expansion of Israel’s military operation. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari says Israel’s ground forces are “expanding their operations tonight”. The Palestinian telecom provider Paltel says internet service in Gaza Strip has been cut off by Israeli bombardment. Services were cut Friday evening, following a heavy round of Israeli airstrikes that lit up the night sky over the darkened territory.
Quick Read
- Israel says its ground forces are “expanding operations tonight” as large explosions are seen in the Gaza Strip
- Israeli military tells Gaza City residents to move south.
- An Israel Defense Forces spokesman tells Gaza City residents to move south for their safety
- The bombardment appears heavier than usual
- Israel has been carrying out strikes in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people
- Targeted raids in recent nights have seen Israeli forces, including tanks, enter the Gaza Strip
- The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 7,000 people have been killed since Israel’s retaliatory bombing began.
- Hamas retaliates with rocket fire towards Israel.
- Palestinian telecom provider Paltel reports internet service cut in Gaza Strip after Israeli airstrikes.
- Communication with rights groups and journalists in Gaza becomes difficult; The Associated Press faces connectivity issues.
- In Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, a father and his 14-year-old son killed in a mosque during an Israeli airstrike.
- The airstrike also hits a neighboring home, causing casualties and trapping people.
- Survivors, including an injured girl, are taken to a hospital.
- Blast site reveals significant destruction, with damaged cars and demolished homes.
- The deceased father and son hailed from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza; other mosque attendees are also feared dead.
- Funeral prayers held for the teen at a U.N.-run school turned shelter.
- Pope Francis prays for global peace at St. Peter’s Basilica, highlighting regions affected by wars.
- Without directly naming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pope expresses concern for the potential escalation of war in the Middle East.
The Associated Press has the story:
Large explosions in Gaza as Israel says ground forces expanding operations
Newslooks- RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)
PALESTINIAN TELECOM PROVIDER SAY INTERNET SERVICE HAS BEEN CUT IN GAZA STRIP
The Israeli military spokesman tells residents of Gaza City to move south, after announcing the expansion of Israel’s military operation. Hamas saying it fired rockets at Israel in response to strikes.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari says Israel’s ground forces are “expanding their operations tonight”.
The Israeli military on Friday said its ground forces were “expanding their activity” in the Gaza Strip, as the army moved closer to a full-on ground invasion of the besieged territory.
Hagari said aerial attacks had been targeting Hamas tunnels and other targets.
“In addition to the attacks that we carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their activity this evening,” he said. “The IDF is acting with great force … to achieve the objectives of the war.”
Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against the Hamas militant group.
Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out a bloody cross-border incursion on Oct. 7.
The Palestinian telecom provider Paltel says internet service in Gaza Strip has been cut off by Israeli bombardment. Services were cut Friday evening, following a heavy round of Israeli airstrikes that lit up the night sky over the darkened territory.
Rights groups and journalists also say they lost contact with colleagues in the enclave. The Associated Press’s attempts to contact people in Gaza did not go through.
AIRSTRIKE IN DEIR AL-BALAH KILLS FATHER AND SON WHO WERE PRAYING IN A MOSQUE
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A 14-year-old boy and his father were killed Friday when the roof of a mosque they were praying in collapsed during an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, witnesses said.
Several people were killed and an unknown number trapped when a bomb also destroyed a home and damaged the mosque next door.
Bloodied survivors were rushed to a hospital. A girl wearing pink who was covered in dirt grimaced as doctors poured liquid on an open leg wound.
Dozens of men gathered to view the blast zone where cars were crushed and buried up to their axles in dirt. Several homes appeared to be destroyed and the half-open remains of one house tilted precariously toward a crater full of rubble and metal scraps.
The father and son who died in the mosque were from the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Several others in the mosque were also feared dead.
Outside a United Nations-run school that’s since become a shelter, funeral prayers were said over the shrouded body of the teen.
POPE FRANCIS LEADS SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR COUNTRIES AND REGIONS AFFECTED BY WAR
VATICAN CITY — Amid signs of escalating tensions in the Middle East, Pope Francis led special prayers Friday evening in St. Peter’s Basilica for a world “in a dark hour” and in “great danger” from what he described as the folly of war.
In his remarks, delivered in the form of a prayer to the Virgin Mary, Francis didn’t mention by name the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which exploded into war after the Hamas attack against Israelis on Oct. 7.
Instead, he said he was praying for “especially those countries and regions at war.”
“Intercede for our world, in such turmoil and great danger,″ the pope prayed, in apparent reference to widespread anxiety that the Israeli-Hamas war could quickly develop into a wider, regional war in the Middle East.
