Israeli military expanding ground operations in Gaza ahead of full attack

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military said Friday it was expanding its ground operations in the Gaza Strip, signaling it was moving closer to an all-out invasion to crush the ruling Hamas terrorist group.

Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other. Frequent explosions from airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday, when the black-out in internet, cellular and landline services hit.

The Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, announced “a complete disruption of all communication and internet services” due to bombardment.

Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said ground forces were “expanding their activity” in Gaza and that it “is acting with great force … to achieve the objectives of the war.”

Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007 and was responsible for the brutal killings of more than 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7. Additionally, Hamas is holding at least 229 captives inside Gaza, including men, women, children and older adults. Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas in response.

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that Israel expects a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon. It “will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas’ vast network of tunnels, he said, adding that he expected a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”

Gallant spoke to a small group of foreign reporters after Israeli forces, backed by fighter jets and drones, carried out a second ground raid into Gaza in as many days, striking the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israel cut off all fuel deliveries to Gaza at the start of the war, forcing its only power plant to shut down. Only a trickle of food and medicine have been allowed in since the war began. Israel has vowed to maintain the siege until Hamas releases its hostages.

Gallant said Israel believes that Hamas would confiscate any fuel that enters. He said Hamas uses generators to pump air into its hundreds of miles of tunnels, which originate in civilian areas. He showed reporters aerial footage of what he said was a tunnel shaft built right next to a hospital.

“For air, they need oil. For oil, they need us,” he said.

Little is known about Hamas’ secretive tunnels and other infrastructure, and it wasn’t possible to independently confirm Gallant’s claims.

Lynne Hastings, the U.N. aid coordinator for the Palestinian territories, declined to comment on Gallant’s remarks, saying “we don’t know what Hamas has or doesn’t have.”

“We have been bringing fuel into Gaza in coordination with the government of Israel for decades. We know fuel is a high-risk item and are working with the Israelis to make sure what we will be using for our operations is done securely,” she said.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, said it has been forced to ration fuel among lifesaving machines in hospitals, bakeries, and desalinisation plants, and only has enough for a few more days.

Earlier on Friday, the military said ground forces raided inside Gaza, striking dozens of terrorist targets over the past 24 hours. It said aircraft and artillery bombed targets in Shijaiyah, a neighborhood on Gaza City’s outskirts that was the scene of an urban battle in the 2014 Gaza war.

The military said the soldiers exited the territory without suffering any casualties. It reported an earlier, hourslong raid into northern Gaza on Thursday.

The military says it only strikes terrorist targets and accuses Hamas of operating among civilians in an attempt to protect its fighters. Palestinian terrorists have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, including one that hit a residential building in Tel Aviv on Friday, wounding three people.

Hamas says the Palestinian death toll has soared past 7,300 as Israel has carried out waves of devastating airstrikes. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which tracks the toll, released a detailed list of names and identification numbers on Thursday. The toll includes more than 3,000 minors and more than 1,500 women.

Federman reported from Jerusalem and Mroue from Beirut. Najib Jobain in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jack Jeffery in Cairo, Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem, and Brian Melley in London, contributed to this report.