Anadolu unable to contact team in Gaza under Israeli blockade

By Anadolu Staff

Türkiye’s leading news agency Anadolu lost contact with its news team early Saturday that is covering developments from the Gaza Strip under an Israeli blockade.

Anadolu’s communication with the team in Gaza City’s center in the north of the region has been completely cut off for three hours following Israel's intensive bombardment of the enclave and its energy and communication infrastructure blockade.

The Israeli army asked all civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, more than 1 million residents, to relocate Friday to the south within 24 hours.

Israel plans to intervene more intensively in the region at the end of that period.

It decided to cut off water, electricity, food and other basic services to the besieged territory Oct. 8.

-Journalists in the region

At least 11 journalists have been killed in the current bout of violence in the Middle East amid a massive Israeli air campaign in the Gaza Strip, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Friday.

A Reuters videographer was killed Friday in Israeli shelling of south Lebanon. Two other journalists from Doha-based Al Jazeera television were injured in the attack.

“In the first seven days of fighting, at least 11 journalists were killed, two were missing and two injured,” the New York-based organization said in a statement. “Nine Palestinian journalists have been confirmed dead; one Israeli journalist has been confirmed killed and one reported missing.”

Israeli forces have launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood -- a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said it was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip in response.

That response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.