Netanyahu confirms his troops in Gaza, stituation dire say aid agencies

After knocking out communications and creating a near-blackout of information in the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment and artillery fire, Israel confirmed that they will be expanding their war further. PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the “world’s most moral army” is going into the “stronghold of evil” while terming it Israel’s “second war of independence”.

Residents in Gaza described the massive overnight bombardment from the sea and the air as the most intense of the three-week-old Israel-Hamas war. Israel’s defence minister earlier said “the ground shook in Gaza” and that the war against the Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers had entered a new stage.

Other countries, United Nations officials and aid agencies described the situation on the ground in Gaza as dire. Ambulances were left without cellphone or radio service and resorted to chasing the sound of artillery fire to locate the local people who were wounded.

The Palestinian death toll since the war started passed 7,700, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government. At least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza, and four hostages were released earlier.