Gaza residents break into U.N. warehouse for supplies as Israeli barrage continues
Thousands of Gaza residents broke into warehouses and distribution centers of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, grabbing flour and "basic survival items," the organization said on Sunday.
"This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza," the organization said in a statement.
Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip were intense overnight. The IDF said it had struck more than 450 terror targets during the past day, and that IDF forces continue to expand ground activities. It said an IDF officer was severely injured by a mortar shell in the northern Gaza Strip.
Speaking this morning, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said "The fighting in the north of the Gaza Strip continues and expands... we will do what we must to achieve the goals of the war."
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The death toll in Gaza rose to 8,005 people on Sunday, including 3,342 children, a statement released by the health ministry in Gaza said.
As the barrage continues, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate the al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip.
"Since this morning, there has been raids 50 meters away from the hospital," it added in a statement on Facebook. Israel refused to comment on the claims.
Meanwhile, an official said Israel is aiming for a significant increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days, calling on Palestinian civilians to head to what he described as a "humanitarian" zone in the south of the territory.
"In the coming week we were planning to increase dramatically the amount of assistance" headed for Gaza from Egypt, said Colonel Elad Goren of Cogat, the Israel Ministry of Defense agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.
And after a communications blackout that lasted more than a full day, phone and internet services are being restored to the Gaza Strip.
A leading Palestinian communications company, the Paltel Group, says its phone and internet networks are gradually being restored.
Virtually all communications went down Friday evening, around the time Israeli ground troops entered the northern part of Gaza.
Meanwhile, President Benjamin Netanyahu, following backlash from Israeli politicians, was forced to delete an online statement saying that he'd had no warning of the Oct. 7 attack It was seen as pinning blame on security chiefs.
Netanyahu deleted his tweet and said "I was mistaken" and that he apologized for the comments.
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