Desperate Gazans breaking into aid centres for supplies, UN says

Israeli forces waged ground operations against Hamas in Gaza on Sunday in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week-old war aimed at crushing the Palestinian militant group.

Gaza’s besieged residents had faced a near-total communications and Internet blackout as Israel’s warplanes dropped bombs and its troops and armour pushed into the Hamas-ruled enclave, with Israeli military chiefs signalling they were gearing up for an expanded ground offensive.

The disruption of communications impacted rescue operations as people hit by Israeli air strikes could not call for help. However several Palestinian media outlets reported early on Sunday that phone and internet communications were returning gradually in Gaza.