RAFAH: A prolonged communications blackout that severed telephone and internet connections compounded the misery Saturday in the besieged Gaza Strip, where a United Nations agency said hunger levels had spiralled in recent days.
Internet and telephone lines went down Thursday evening and were still inaccessible Saturday morning, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org, hampering aid deliveries and rescue efforts as Israel's war against Gaza's ruling militant group Hamas stretched into the 11th week.
"The internet blackout is ongoing, and based on our records it is the longest such incident" in the over-two-month war, said Alp Toker, the group's director.
The United Nations' humanitarian affairs department said communications with Gaza were "severely disrupted" due to damage to telecommunications lines in the south.
The offensive, triggered by the unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 85% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes. Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.
On Friday, Israeli troops mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with Hamas militants in recent days. The soldiers mistakenly identified the three Israelis as a threat and opened fire, said the army's chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
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Hundreds of protesters blocked Tel Aviv's main highway late Friday in a spontaneous demonstration calling for the hostages' return. The hostages' plight has dominated public discourse in Israel since the Oct. 7 attack. Their families have led a powerful public campaign calling on the government to do more to bring them home.
Anger over the mistaken killing of the three — young men in their 20s — is likely to increase pressure on the government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more captives for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of a residential building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo)Hamas released over 100 hostages for Palestinian prisoners in November. Nearly all those freed on both sides were women and minors. Talks on further swaps broke down, with Hamas seeking the release of more veteran prisoners for female soldiers it is holding.
Israeli political and military leaders often say freeing all the hostages is their top aim in the war alongside destroying Hamas. However, they argue that their release can only be achieved through military pressure on Hamas, a claim that has sharply divided public opinion.
After negotiations broke down, Hamas said it would only free the remaining hostages, believed to number more than 130, if Israel ended the war and released all Palestinian prisoners.
As of late November, Israel held nearly 7,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of security offences, including hundreds rounded up since the start of the war.
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Residents in northern Gaza meanwhile reported heavy bombing and the sounds of gunbattle overnight and into Saturday in devastated Gaza City and the nearby urban refugee camp of Jabaliya. Hamza Abu Seada, a resident, said heavy airstrikes struck Jabaliya, with non-stop sounds of explosions and gunfire.
"It was a violent bombardment," said Asad Abu Taha, another resident, by phone from the Shijaiyah neighbourhood, adding that contact with others was difficult because of the telecommunications interruptions. "We don't know what's happening."
An Associated Press journalist in southern Gaza also reported airstrikes and tank shelling overnight in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
With only a trickle of aid able to enter Gaza and distribution disrupted by fighting, the UN's World Food Program reported a surge from 38% to 56% in the number of displaced households experiencing severe levels of hunger in the space of under two weeks. In the north, where aid has been unable to enter, "households … are expected to face a catastrophic situation," the WFP said.
The offensive has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday before the communications blackout.
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Thousands more are missing and feared dead beneath the rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Its latest count did not specify how many were women and minors, but they have consistently been around two-thirds of those killed in the conflict.
On Friday, an Israeli strike killed a Palestinian journalist and wounded another in the southern city of Khan Younis, both working for the Al Jazeera television network.
The two were reporting from a school that had been hit by an earlier airstrike when a drone launched a second strike, the network said. Dozens of mourners held funeral prayers for Samer Abu Daqqa outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the Qatari network reported.
Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh reacts over the body of Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (AP Photo)Khan Younis has been the main target of Israel's ground offensive in the south.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the cameraman was the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted. The others included 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese.
Meanwhile, the United States, Israel's closest ally, has expressed unease over Israel's failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing.
In meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday and Friday, United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed a timetable for winding down the intense combat phase of the war. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was also expected to visit Israel soon to discuss the issue.
"We do not believe that it makes sense for Israel, or is right for Israel, to occupy Gaza, reoccupy Gaza over the long term," Sullivan told journalists in Tel Aviv.
The US has pushed Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, and the government said it would open a second entry point to speed up deliveries.
While Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it wipes out Gaza's Hamas rulers, the international call for a cease-fire has grown in volume. Israel has drawn international outrage and rare criticism from the US—its main ally—over the killing of civilians.
