In Gaza, witnesses said heavy Israeli bombardment was continuing, while local media reported Palestinian gunmen firing a barrage of rockets at Israeli tanks deployed along the border.
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| Hamas-Israel conflict: Fierce gunfire and shelling in the Gaza Strip border area on the night of October 27. (Source: AFP) |
Fighting is ongoing between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants on the Gaza Strip border as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced an expanded ground offensive into the area overnight on October 27.
The Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds quoted a statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip, saying clashes were taking place on the ground in Bureij in the central part of the Gaza Strip and Beit Hanoun in the northwest of the coastal strip.
An IDF spokesman confirmed that following operations carried out over the past few days, ground forces expanded operations on the evening of October 27.
In Gaza, witnesses said heavy Israeli bombardment was continuing, while local media reported Palestinian gunmen firing a barrage of rockets at Israeli tanks deployed along the border.
Mobile phone and internet services in Gaza have been cut off, the Palestinian telecommunications company said.
* Also on October 27, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch warned that the near-total information blackout in the Gaza Strip risks covering up “massive atrocities,” amid Israel’s relentless bombardment of the coastal strip.
“This blindness risks concealing large-scale atrocities and contributing to human rights violations,” said Deborah Brown, senior technology and human rights researcher at the organization, in a statement.
Earlier, multiple sources confirmed that Internet access and telephone networks were completely cut off across the Gaza Strip on October 27.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza administration accused Israel of taking the measure "to carry out bloody retaliatory attacks from the air, land and sea".
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that “the disruption affected the 101 emergency line and prevented ambulances from reaching the injured” during the air strikes. The organization expressed “deep concern” about the ability to continue providing medical services and the safety of medical staff.
* The Hamas Islamist movement and the Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed the October 27 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly (UN) calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, in the context of Israel intensifying its attacks on the strip after the conflict broke out on October 7.
“We demand immediate action to allow the entry of fuel and humanitarian aid for civilians,” Hamas said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Israel angrily rejected the resolution. Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the country would continue to defend itself. "This is a dark day for the UN and humanity," Erdan said, pledging that his country would use "all means" to fight Hamas.
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