A dense cloud of smoke from the bombing of the Gaza Strip invades the Israeli border city of Ashkelon on the night of October 27, 2023 as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. The Israeli army on the evening of October 27 carried out bombings of 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� intensity since the start of the war in the north of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Gaza City, according to images from AFP and the Hamas movement. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP)
Palestinian Territories 鈥斅燭he Israeli military said Friday it was expanding its ground operations in Gaza as it unleashed one of the fiercest bombardments in three weeks of war with the territory鈥檚 Hamas rulers.
Huge orange flashes lit up the night sky over Gaza City as air strike after air strike hit the shattered territory, where internet access and the phone network were cut.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the army was 鈥渆xtending鈥� its ground operations after two straight nights of tank incursions.
Hamas鈥檚 armed wing said it was fighting Israeli forces in two areas inside the Gaza Strip.
鈥淲e are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and in east Bureij (in the centre) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground,鈥� the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
Israel has been building up to an expected ground invasion since Hamas fighters stormed across the border on October 7. It says that 1,400 people, nearly all civilians, were killed and more than 220 taken hostage.
The Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli strikes on Gaza had now killed 7,326 people, including more than 3,000 children. The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster in the enclave of 2.4 million people as food, water and fuel runs out.
Hamas said that Israel had 鈥渄oubled鈥� the number of air strikes on Friday night as it made a new appeal for international efforts to halt the attacks.
But the Palestinian group declared itself 鈥渞eady鈥� for any invasion ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 government.
鈥淭he remains of his soldiers will be swallowed up by the land of Gaza,鈥� senior Hamas political bureau member Ezzat al-Rishaq said on Telegram.
In southern Israel, helicopters were heard close to the Gaza border as clouds of black smoke rose from the territory. Roads on the Israeli side were deserted.
The orange glow of the fires in Gaza City was clearly visible and roads on the Israeli side were deserted.
Most of the population, including the kibbutz communities that suffered most from the October 7 attacks, have been evacuated.
Hamas said all internet connections and communications across Gaza had been cut, and accused Israel of taking the measure 鈥渢o perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea鈥�.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said ambulance services had been disrupted.
鈥淲e have completely lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there,鈥� it said on X, the former Twitter.
The Israeli army accused Hamas of abusing hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, an allegation Hamas swiftly denied.