Jerusalem : The Israeli strikes had knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday and largely cut off its 2.3 million people from the world. Early Sunday, communications were restored to many in Gaza, according to the telecoms company Paltel, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
Israeli airstrikes have hit areas around Gaza's largest hospital, residents say, destroying roads leading to the facility, which is a major shelter for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment. The Israeli military has renewed longstanding allegations in recent days that top Hamas leaders and operatives have built underground bunkers below Shifa hospital and accused the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Israel has not presented evidence, and Hamas denies the claims.
Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult, Mahmoud al-Sawah, who was sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone on Sunday. It seems they want to cut off the area. Another Gaza resident, Abdallah Sayed, described the Israeli air and land attacks in the past two days as the most violent and intense since the war started.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel's ground invasion of Gaza on Monday afternoon at the request of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council. Internet and telephone connectivity has been restored for many people in Gaza, according to the telecoms company Paltel, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
The besieged Gaza Strip had suffered a communication blackout since late Friday, leaving its 2.3 million residents cut off from the outside world amid heavy Israeli air and land bombardment. No international aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as the communications blackout created by Israel continued.
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told The Associated Press that no aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday because communication was impossible and teams inside Gaza couldn't connect with Egyptian Red Crescent or United Nations personnel. Before Saturday, a total of 84 aid trucks were let into Gaza, a tiny amount for a population of 2.3 million people in need of power, food, medical supplies and clean drinking water.
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