Internet, phone lines cut for third time in Gaza since war with Israel began

Israel cut internet and phone lines in the Gaza Strip Sunday night, for the third time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, telecoms firm Paltel said.

"We regret to announce the complete shutdown of communications and internet services in Gaza after the Israeli side disconnected the servers," Paltel said in a statement.

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said Sunday at least 9,770 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted last month.

In the latest strikes in Gaza, the health ministry said, Israeli bombing of Al-Maghazi refugee camp late Saturday killed 45 people, with an eyewitness reporting children dead and homes smashed.

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Ground battles raged in the north of the densely populated Gaza Strip, despite calls for a ceasefire from Arab countries and from desperate civilians after 30 days of a war that has killed thousands, mostly civilians.

Israeli troops were seen engaged in house-to-house battles as tanks and armoured bulldozers churned through the sand in footage released by the army on the campaign to tighten the encirclement of Gaza City, still home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The ministry said at least 4,800 children were among those killed since Israel began striking the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas militants in southern Israel that Israeli officials say killed over 1,400, most of them civilians.

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