Gaza loses communications due to lack of fuel, Israel signals forces may move south

A dire fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip has shut down all internet and phone networks, the main Palestinian telecom provider said Thursday, effectively cutting off the besieged territory from the outside world.…CONTINUE READING

And in a signal that Israel’s ground invasion is about to expand in the south, Palestinians in parts of southern Gaza said they received evacuation notices Thursday.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crowded into the south, including hundreds of thousands who heeded Israel’s calls to evacuate the north to get out of the way of its offensive. Residents say bread is scarce and supermarket shelves are bare. Central electricity and running water have been out for weeks.

More than 11,200 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people are reported missing.

Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas after the militant group launched its Oct. 7 incursion. Some 1,200 people have died in Israel, mostly during the initial attack, and around 240 were taken captive by militants.