Israeli troops divided the northern and southern parts of Gaza, as communications across the besieged territory were temporarily cut Monday for a third time since the war started. The troops are expected to enter Gaza City on Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported.
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Video: UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan slams members for their silence / Credit: UN
The developments came after Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. Israel has so far rejected US suggestions that it take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza amid rising civilian deaths.
Some 1,400 people in Israel were murdered by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the terrorist group.
Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.
Communication services have been gradually restored across Gaza, a main telecoms provider and an advocacy group said Monday, 15 hours after the territory experienced its third communication blackout since the war began on Oct. 7.
Palestinian communications company Paltel announced that its services, including fixed, mobile, and internet communications, have been gradually restored.
Alp Toker, director of the internet advocacy group NetBlocks.org, confirmed that internet connectivity has been restored to levels prior to Sunday's disruption. Overall service, however, remained significantly below prewar levels, he said.
The US military has acknowledged positioning a nuclear-capable submarine in the Middle East. It provided no other details in its online statement Sunday, though it posted an image that appeared to show a submarine in Egypt's Suez Canal near its Suez Canal Bridge.
US acknowledgment of an Ohio-class submarine location is incredibly rare as they represent part of America's so-called "nuclear triad" of atomic weapons – which also includes land-based ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs aboard strategic bombers.
Several Ohio-class submarines instead carry cruise missiles and the capability to deploy with special operations forces, so it's unclear if the submarine operating now in the Mideast carries nuclear ballistic missiles. The US has deployed submarines into the region before and announced its recent presence as tensions were high with Iran.
Central Command separately released an image of a nuclear-capable B-1 bomber also operating in the Mideast on Sunday.
