Israeli Army says ground forces are 'expanding' activities in Gaza, where internet has collapsed

Israel has not commented on the incident.In Gaza, the blackout of internet and phone services left people unable to reach family members and friends, or to access the internet. Gaza’s Health Ministry said it was unable to communicate with medical teams in the field.

Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified bombardment on Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” its ground operations in the besieged territory.

The military’s announcement signalled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago

Frequent explosions from airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday, when the black-out in internet, cellular and landline services hit. The Red Crescent said it lost all contact with its operations room and medical teams. It said it feared people would no longer be able to contact ambulance services. Other aid groups said they were unable to reach staff on the ground.

The Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, announced “a complete disruption of all communication and internet services” due to bombardment.

Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said ground forces were “expanding their activity” in Gaza and that it “is acting with great force ... to achieve the objectives of the war.”

Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against the Hamas militant group.

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that Israel expects a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon. It “will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas' vast network of tunnels, he said, adding that he expected a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”