There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military that ground forces had again entered Gaza, following two nights that saw limited incursions.
The armed wing of Hamas said late Friday its fighters were battling Israeli forces inside Gaza, after Israel said it would expand its ground operations against the Palestinian militant group in the territory.
“We are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and in east Bureij (in the centre) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military that ground forces had again entered Gaza, following two nights that saw limited incursions.
Hamas earlier said it was “ready” for an invasion after Israeli air strikes cut communications across the densely populated Gaza Strip, blasted by nearly three weeks of bombardment.
“Following the series of strikes of the last days, the ground forces are extending the ground operations tonight,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters after two straight nights of tank incursions.
“If (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu decides to enter Gaza tonight, the resistance is ready,” said Ezzat al-Rishaq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, on Telegram social media.
“The remains of his soldiers will be swallowed up by the land of Gaza.”
Israel’s military said it had increased its strikes “in a very significant way”.
AFP live footage showed air strike after air strike light up the night sky of northern Gaza as thick black smoke clouded the horizon.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said on Telegram it responded with “salvos of rockets”.
Hamas said all internet connections and communications across Gaza had been cut, and accused Israel of taking the measure “to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said ambulance services had been disrupted.
“We have completely lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there,” it said on X, formerly Twitter.
Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.
The Hamas-run health ministry said Friday Israeli strikes on Gaza had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children.
AFP
