Israel Says Gaza 'Cut Into Two' In 'Significant Stage' Amid Internet Outage, Chorus For Ceasefire Grows: Top Points

Israeli Defence Forces said they have encircles Gaza City as the coastal strip witnessed major strikes from Israel on Sunday evening, shortly after Netanyahu denied ceasefire.

Israel continued with its attacks on Gaza as a major strike rocked the besieged enclave on Sunday evening snapping communication for the coastal strip while violence also escalated on Israel’s northern boundary with Lebanon. According to reports from Gaza, the strikes were coming from the air, sea, and land, and also from the north of the Strip where Israeli forces have their presence now. 

The strikes on Gaza came as the Israeli Defence Forces indicated that its troops had encircled Gaza City in force within 48 hours, according to reports by Israeli media. “Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group ruling the enclave. 

Meanwhile violence also flared up in northern Israel along the Lebanon border after a mortar and rocket fire from Hezbollah in response to an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed three girls aged eight to 14 and their grandmother. 

• The attack by Israel in Lebanon was termed as “dangerous development” by a Hezbollah MP saying Israel would pay a price for it as Israelis were ordered to shelter in secure rooms and the main road north was closed to traffic, reported Guardian.


• The strikes on Gaza came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to give in to the mounting demands for a ceasefire unless the hostages were released by Hamas. "There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon,” he said on Sunday. 


• Palestinian news agency WAFA stated that Gaza was under "unprecedented bombardment" from Israel while telecommunications company Paltel said that all the communications and internet services were broken again, as per a Reuters report. 


• Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas joined the international call for ceasefire during a meeting with US State Secretary Antony Blinken. He also said that PA would only assume power in Gaza as part of a “comprehensive political solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


• During his meeting with Abbas, Blinken said that PA should play a central role in the future of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian views, voices and aspirations need to be “at the center” of conversations about the future of Gaza, Blinken told reporters in Baghdad.


• In a rare announcement, the United States military said that a guided subamrine entered the Middle East, a clear message of deterrence directed at Iran and its proxies in the region, reported CNN.