thIsrael knocked out communications and created a near-blackout of information by striking targets in the Gaza Strip with stepped-up bombardment and artillery fire overnight and into Saturday.
Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours after nightfall Friday.
The Israeli military said it was expanding ground operations in the territory. This signalled a move closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza meant to crush the Hamas fighters.
The invasion is coming after the Hamas group’s bloody rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services.
This is as the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people were largely cut off from contact with the outside world. Some satellite phones continued to function.
The Palestinian death toll passed 7,300, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which tracks the toll.
The ministry released a detailed list including names and ID numbers on Thursday.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have died in violence and Israeli raids since the war’s start three weeks ago.
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More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during the Hamas incursion, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government.
Hamas said they took at least 229 hostages into Gaza, and released four hostages earlier.
Meanwhile in Jakarta, Indonesia, more than 3,000 protesters marched to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Indonesia’s capital on Saturday to demand an end to bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags, the protesters, many wearing white Islamic robes, filled a major thoroughfare in downtown Jakarta running outside the embassy.
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Indonesian Government deployed about 1,000 police around the compound, which they already blocked off by concrete road barriers.
The protesters, organised by the Indonesian Ulema Council, (MUI), chanted “God is Great” and “Freedom for Palestine” during the noisy but peaceful protest.
Banners and placards proclaimed, “We stand with Gaza” and slammed the Israeli government while denouncing the U.S. support of Israel.
“We are not willing to allow our brothers and sisters in Palestine to be tyrannised or genocided by Israel,” MUI Secretary General of MUI Amirsyah Tambunan told the crowd.
“We will continue to support and fight for Palestinian independence and sovereignty.”
In another report, the UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution on Friday calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
It was the first UN response to Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and Israel’s ongoing military response and vow to obliterate Hamas.
The 193-member world body adopted the resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions.
The adoption came after member states rejected a Canadian amendment backed by the United States to unequivocally condemn the “terrorist attacks” by Hamas.
Canada also demanded the immediate release of hostages taken by the Hamas group. (AP News)
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