Palestinians traumatized by Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip in a bid to destroy terrorist group Hamas were struggling to make contact with family and friends on Sunday.
⚠️ Confirmed: Real-time network data show that internet connectivity is being restored in the #Gaza Strip; service was disrupted on Friday amid heavy bombardment by Israel, leaving most residents cut off from the outside world at a critical moment pic.twitter.com/I7hBa9L9I9
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) October 29, 2023
Telephone and internet communications were returning gradually to Gaza, several Palestinian media outlets said.
Israeli forces waged ground operations in Gaza in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week-old war aimed at crushing Hamas.
Gaza's besieged residents faced a near-total communications and Internet blackout as Israel's warplanes dropped bombs and its troops and armor pushed into the Hamas-ruled enclave, as Israeli military chiefs signaled they were gearing up for an expanded ground offensive.