Israel Gaza live: IDF expands ground operations as Gaza bombardment intensifies amid blackout

The Israeli military has said its ground forces are “expanding their activity” in the Gaza Strip tonight, as lines of communication in the enclave have gone down.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army’s spokesman, said aerial attacks had been targeting Hamas tunnels and other targets.

“In addition to the attacks that we carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their activity this evening,” he said. “The IDF 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 the Hamas militant group.

Airstrikes have intensified since nightfall and the territory’s internet and mobile communications services collapsed on Friday evening.

As thousands of Israeli soldiers mass at the Gaza border ahead of an anticipated ground offensive, a heavily modified armoured bulldozer dubbed the “Teddy Bear” is set to lead the charge.

The heavily-armoured vehicles, manufactured by the US tractor company Caterpillar, will be used to soak up enemy fire and clear a path through cluttered streets intermittently mined by Hamas, the militant group in control of the enclave.

In a national address on Wednesday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said forces were “preparing for a ground invasion” of the Gaza Strip.

As Gaza city remains under blackout with communication cut off, pictures of the sky taken from outside the enclave showed the dark area lit up by Israeli airstrikes.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protesters across the world, including in the US, have demanded governments to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Protests at one of the busiest train stations in the US forced the closure of New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

Protests were also seen in Paris, JakaIstanbul, Washington DC and parts of Germany.

Hamas has said it will confront Israeli attacks with “full force” after the country’s military plunged the city into darkness and imposed a communication blackout to widen its air and ground attacks.

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza said earlier that its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel after the latter intensified attacks in Gaza.

The armed wing of Hamas said its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in Gaza’s northeastern town of Beit Hanoun and in the central area of Al-Bureij.

“The Al-Qassam brigades and all the Palestinian resistance forces are completely ready to confront (Israel’s) aggression with full force and frustrate its incursions,” Hamas said in a statement.

“Netanyahu and his defeated army will not be able to achieve any military victory,” referring to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bombardment of Gaza intensified after Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised news briefing yesterday evening: “In addition to the attacks carried out in the last few days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight.”

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) approved a resolution yesterday calling for an immediate “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

The resolution – though nonbinding – was the first UN response to Hamas’s surprise 7 October attacks on Israel and Israel’s ongoing military response and vow to obliterate Hamas.

The UNGA adopted the resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions after rejecting a Canadian amendment backed by the US to unequivocally condemn the “terrorist attacks” by Hamas and demand the immediate release of hostages taken by the militant group.

The resolution was drafted by a group of 22 Arab countries. It passed even as 45 countries abstained and the US and Israel voted no.

Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has said he is unable to contact his family in Gaza and “can only pray they survive the night”.

His wife Nadia El-Nakla said 10 days ago that three of her young cousins – including a two-year-old – had suffered shrapnel injuries after being hit by an Israeli drone.

Pope Francis has led special Friday evening prayers in St Peter’s Basilica for a world “in a dark hour” and in “great danger” from what he described as the folly of war.

Francis delivered his remarks in the form of a prayer to the Virgin Mary and did not mention by name the conflict that exploded when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October and Israel retaliated by sealing off the Gaza Strip and battering the Palestinian territory with air strikes.

He said he was praying for “especially those countries and regions at war” and he pleaded with Mary to “take the initiative for us, in these times rent by conflicts and laid waste by the fire of arms”.

“This is a dark hour,” Francis said in a subdued voice, in his remarks in the basilica.

The UN secretary-general has appealed for the procedures for inspecting aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing to be “adjusted to allow many more trucks to enter Gaza without delay”.

“The humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians,” Antonio Guterres said.

The US is leading negotiations with Israel, Egypt and the UN to try and create a sustained delivery mechanism for aid to Gaza, but they are wrangling over procedures for inspecting aid which see each truck offload its cargo at a checkpoint to be inspected for possible arms and ammunition.

“The verification system for the movement of goods through the Rafah crossing must be adjusted to allow many more trucks to enter Gaza without delay,” Mr Guterres said.

Before the conflict about 500 trucks a day were crossing into Gaza, but in recent days, an average of only 12 trucks a day have entered, he said.

Describing the situation in Gaza as “desperate and dramatic” the U.N. chief said the United Nations will not be able to continue delivering assistance inside the enclave “without an immediate and fundamental shift in how aid is going in.”