With all communications cut off, Israeli attacks literally destroying Gaza: Palestinian diplomat

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – With the besieged enclave cut off from the world, Israeli attacks are “literally destroying Gaza from air, land, and sea,” the Palestinian ambassador to the UK said on Friday.

“I have been trying to reach my family in Gaza for hours with no success,” said Husam Zomlot in a statement.

He added that “all telecommunications and internet have been cut, while Israeli strikes are literally destroying Gaza from air, land, and sea.”

“How many more innocent people: children, parents and grandparents will be murdered before the world steps in?” he asked.

His desperate statement followed an Israeli army announcement that its ground forces would expand their activities in the Gaza Strip during the night, a signal that a long-feared ground operation may have begun.

Communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip were completely cut off on Friday evening amid heavy Israeli bombing of feeder lines, towers, and networks, the Palestine Telecommunications Company said.

Ooredoo Palestine, a mobile provider in the West Bank, said its cellphone services were completely cut off from the Gaza Strip.

The conflict in Gaza began on Oct. 7 when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and aid convoys recently allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what is needed.

Nearly 8,800 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,326 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis. Some 70% of the deaths in Gaza are women and children, according to official figures.