Hamas said on Saturday that its militants in Gaza were ready to face Israeli attacks with “full force” after the Israeli army stepped up air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reported.

The Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip said its fighters were clashing with Israeli forces in areas near the border with Israel after Israel reported an increase in attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Early Saturday morning, the Internet and phone outages, which telecommunications companies and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said were the result of Israeli shelling, lasted more than 10 hours.

“In addition to the attacks carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight,” Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a televised press conference Friday night, when asked if the long-awaited ground attack would take place. intrusion. Gases may start.

He stated that the Israeli Air Force is carrying out large-scale attacks on tunnels dug by Hamas and other infrastructure.

The armed wing of Hamas said on Friday that its fighters were clashing with Israeli forces in the northeastern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun and in the central Al-Burayj district.

“Al-Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces are fully prepared to confront (Israel’s) aggression with all their might and thwart its invasion,” Hamas said in a statement early Saturday.

“Netanyahu and his defeated army will not be able to achieve any military victory,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli ground forces have been concentrating outside the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out intense aerial bombardments since hundreds of Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip on October 7. Israel says 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage, some of them foreign nationals or dual Israeli nationals.

Since then, according to Palestinian health authorities, Israeli bombing has killed more than 7,000 Palestinians.

Al Jazeera, which broadcast live footage overnight showing frequent explosions in Gaza, said Israeli airstrikes hit areas around the enclave’s main hospital.

Reuters was unable to verify reports of attacks near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

On Friday, the Israeli military accused Hamas of using the hospital as a shield for its tunnels and operational centers, a charge the group denies. (news.ro)