Israel escalates attacks
Internet returns to the Gaza Strip
October 29, 2023, 7:15 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Internet and telephone connections are apparently available again in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Qatar, which has close ties to Hamas, claims that Israeli ground operations are complicating mediation efforts to free the hostages.
Communications in the Gaza Strip have reopened two days after they were disrupted by Israeli bombardments, according to an online monitor. “Real-time network data shows internet connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip,” said internet monitoring site Netblocks on X, formerly Twitter.
An employee of the AFP news agency in Gaza City also reported that shortly after 4 a.m. (3 a.m. CET) the internet was working and calls to the south of the Gaza Strip were possible. Internet and telephone access had been disrupted throughout the Gaza Strip since Friday as a result of Israeli attacks.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military is increasingly attacking the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip on the ground and from the air. “We are entering the next phase of our war against Hamas in Gaza. From the air, on land and at sea,” Israel’s army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a video posted by the military on X that night.
Netanyahu: “It’s just the beginning”
The massive air strikes of the past few weeks have dealt Hamas a “serious blow,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv. “However, we are only at the beginning,” he emphasized. The war would be “difficult and protracted.” The aim is to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its rule over the Gaza Strip and bring back the hostages.
Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators in efforts to secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Palestinian extremists. Before the expansion of ground operations in the coastal area sealed off by Israel, there had been reports of alleged progress in these efforts. However, Majed Al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, told the US news channel CNN on Saturday that the escalation on the ground was now making the situation “significantly more difficult”.
It is not clear exactly how many hostages are being held captive in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli army, the families of 230 abductees had been informed by Saturday. According to the military, this does not include the four hostages already released by Hamas. At a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, representatives of the relatives demanded that all Palestinian prisoners be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages kidnapped from Israel.
ICRC: “Catastrophic failure”
Meanwhile, the Israeli army once again urged those remaining in the north of the Gaza Strip to seek safety in the south of the densely populated coastal area. The “window of opportunity” is closing quickly, it was said. The army also announced on Saturday that it would allow an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries to the Palestinian population. “We are extending humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip who have gone to the area south of Wadi Gaza,” said army spokesman Hagari.
Aid organizations complained that the temporary failure of almost all telephone and internet connections made aid even more difficult. There is panic and chaos. “I am shocked by the unbearable extent of human suffering and call on the parties to the conflict to de-escalate now,” wrote the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, on X. Adequate humanitarian aid is currently not possible. “This is a catastrophic failure that the world cannot accept.”
Saudi representative apparently visits USA
Saudi Arabia condemned “any ground offensives” by Israel in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic kingdom spoke of a “blatant breach and an unjustified violation of international law.” Saudi Arabia is an important protecting power for the Palestinians and has been hostile to Israel for decades. Before the start of the Gaza war, there were many signs pointing to a possible normalization of relations with US mediation. As the conflict has escalated again, Riyadh has stopped talks about possible normalization.
As the news portal “Axios” reported last night, citing unnamed sources, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman is expected to travel to Washington on Monday for talks with senior US government officials.
Israel began large-scale shelling of the enclave after the unprecedented attack by the radical Palestinian organization Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, which left 1,400 dead. Since then, thousands of people have died in the Gaza Strip, but there are no official figures.