Israel pounds Gaza on 99th day of war
Israel pounded Gaza on Saturday as the Palestinian territory suffered under a dire humanitarian situation and grappled with a telecommunications blackout on the 99th day of the war. Fears of the conflict widening have grown after US and British forces struck pro-Hamas Houthi rebels in Yemen following attacks on Red Sea shipping, with a fresh US air strike confirmed Saturday. Witnesses reported Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the early morning, and an AFP journalist said on Friday that strikes and shelling had hit areas between Gaza's southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, crowded with people who have fled from the north. All internet and telecommunications services in Gaza were cut Friday as a result of Israeli bombardment, the main operator Paltel said. "Gaza is blacked out again," it said in a post on social media platform X. The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the disruption was increasing the challenges in "reaching the wounded and injured promptly". Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 23,708 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest health ministry figures. UN aid agency OCHA's head for the occupied Palestinian territories told AFP on Friday that Israel was constantly blocking humanitarian aid convoys into northern Gaza. "They have been very systematic in not allowing us to support hospitals, which is something that is reaching a point of a level of inhumanity that for me is beyond comprehension," Andrea De Domenico said. In central Gaza, a lack of fuel forced the shutdown of the main generator of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the health ministry said. "Does anyone care about us? Why is everyone silent?" asked one mourner at a hospital where a group of Palestinians had gathered beside white body bags holding the latest casualties. (AFP)