Gaza hit by telecoms blackout as Israeli tanks advance
GAZA/CAIRO: Israeli tanks were seen in two Gaza City areas that are gateways to the city centre, residents said on Thursday, while internet and phone lines were cut off across the Gaza Strip, a sign that ground operations were likely to escalate imminently.
Israeli forces control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and in recent days have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas, from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western areas where most of the population is sheltering.
“The disconnection of internet and phone services is a bad omen. It has always been a bad signal something very brutal is going to happen,” said Ismail, who only gave one name. He was using an e-SIM to connect his phone, a dangerous method as it requires seeking higher ground to receive a signal.
At least 79 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes or gunfire across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, most in Gaza City, the territory’s health ministry said early afternoon on Thursday.
The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment on the blackout.
Meanwhile, exhaustion, despair and anger are grinding away at Ne’man Abu Jarad. Once again, for the 11th time, he and his family have been forced to uproot and move across the Gaza Strip.
“It’s a renewal of the torture. We’re not being displaced, we’re dying,” Ne’man said last week as the family packed up their possessions and tents in Gaza City to escape escalating Israel bombardment ahead of a planned invasion of the city.
The next day, they unpacked in southern Gaza on barren former agricultural land outside the city of Khan Younis, unsure where they would now find food and water.
This has been the Abu Jarads’ life for nearly two years, since fleeing their home in the far north of Gaza days after Israel launched its onslaught in response to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
Like countless Palestinian families, they have fled the length of Gaza and back, forced to move every few months as Israel attacks each new shelter. The Associated Press has chronicled much of their journey.
During the ceasefire that began in January, they had a bittersweet return to their home, which was damaged but still standing. But within two months, Israel broke the ceasefire, and the Abu Jarads had to wrench themselves away.
With each move, Ne’man and his wife Majida try to preserve some stability for their six daughters and their 2-year-old granddaughter amid the misery of tent life.
The youngest is 8-year-old Lana; the eldest is Balsam, in her 20s and married.
But the sense of futility is weighing heavier. No end is in sight and Ne’man fears it will get worse. “What’s coming is dark,” he said. “We might be expelled (from Gaza). We might die … You feel like death is surrounding you. We just scurry from place to place, away from death.”
