UN warns of hunger fears as Gaza Strip is hit by communications blackout

Internet and telephone lines went down on Thursday evening and were still inaccessible on Saturday morning, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org, hampering aid deliveries and rescue efforts as Israel’s war against Gaza’s ruling militant group Hamas stretched into the 11th week.

“The internet blackout is ongoing, and based on our records it is the longest such incident” in the over-two-month war, said Alp Toker, the group’s director.

The United Nations’ humanitarian affairs department said communications with Gaza were “severely disrupted” due to damage to telecommunications lines in the south.

The offensive, triggered by the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has expressed unease over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing.

In meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday and Friday, United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed a timetable for winding down the intense combat phase of the war.

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, was also expected to visit Israel soon to discuss the issue.

The US has pushed Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, and the government said it would open a second entry point to speed up deliveries.

With only a trickle of aid able to enter and distribution disrupted by fighting, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) reported a surge from 38% to 56% in the number of displaced households experiencing severe levels of hunger in the space of under two weeks.

In the north, where aid has been unable to enter, “households … are expected to face a catastrophic situation,” the WFP said.

The offensive has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday before the communications blackout.

Thousands more are missing and feared dead beneath the rubble.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Its latest count did not specify how many were women and minors, but they have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead in previous tallies.

In their October 7 attack, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostage.

On Friday, Israeli troops mistakenly shot and killed three hostages in Gaza City in the north.

The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Israeli troops found the hostages on Friday and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

The hostages have been identified as Alon Shamriz, Samer Al-Talalka and Yotam Haim.

The incident occurred in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in recent days.

He said the army expressed “deep sorrow” and was investigating.

An Israeli strike killed a Palestinian journalist and wounded another in the southern city of Khan Younis, both working for the Al Jazeera television network.

The two were reporting at a school that had been hit by an earlier airstrike when a drone launched a second strike, the network said.