Ground battles as Israeli jets bomb tunnels amid Gaza communication blackout

Israeli settler gunfire has killed a Palestinian man identified as Bilal Mohammad Saleh, 40, in the town of al-Sawiyeh, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to medical sources.

The Ministry of Health said Saleh was shot in the chest and critically wounded, Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, according to the United Nations.

A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country's south, the UN's International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 percent since 23 October.

Cindy McCain has added her voice to those warning that the situation in Gaza had reached "a tipping point".

"The silence is deafening," the head of the World Food Programme said on X. "Humanity must prevail."

Like other aid groups, the UN's food agency has also lost contact with its teams in Gaza due to the telecommunications blackout.

"As conflict rages on, I am extremely worried for the safety of all humanitarian workers and civilians," McCain said.

The International Organization for Migration has renewed its call for a ceasefire.

The UN agency said on X: "Civilians must be protected. There are no winners in war. The most vulnerable pay the heaviest toll."

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas fighters in Gaza have demanded an immediate government explanation about the fate of the captives after the army intensified strikes on the Palestinian territory.

The main group representing more than 200 people believed abducted in the 7 October attacks by Hamas sought an immediate meeting with ministers.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that relatives were angry over the "absolute uncertainty regarding the fate of the hostages held (in Gaza), who were also subject to the heavy bombings".

The Israeli army has released what, it says, is footage of its forces operating in the Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera.

The undated video showing tanks was shared through the military's official account on X.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the UN's health agency is still unable to reach its staff and health facilities after Israel cut phone and internet services across Gaza.

"I'm worried about their safety," the World Health Organization chief wrote on X.

"Evacuation of patients is not possible under such circumstances, nor to find safe shelter. The blackout is also making it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Israel to "immediately come out of its state of madness and stop its attacks" on the Gaza Strip.

"The Israeli bombardments on Gaza, which intensified last night, have again targeted women, children and innocent civilians, deepening the humanitarian crisis," he said.

The US says its citizens should leave Lebanon "due to the unpredictable security situation" in the country, reports Al Jazeera.

"The State Department recommends that US citizens in Lebanon leave now, while commercial flights remain available, due to the unpredictable security situation," it said on X.

"There is no guarantee the US government will evacuate private US citizens and their family members in a crisis situation."

The Israeli army says it carried out an air raid against a Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon overnight, reports Al Jazeera.

A statement on X said that the attack was in response to a rocket fire towards Israel.

The Israeli army says its fighter jets struck Asem Abu Rakaba, head of the Hamas Aerial Array, reports Al Jazeera.

It said Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas's UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and aerial defence, and had taken part in planning the surprise attacks inside Israel earlier this month.

There was no immediate comment by Hamas. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the information.

11:56am

We have some more details on the arrests at the mass sit-in organised by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at New York's Grand Central Station on Friday night.

Photos earlier showed New York police escorting dozens of protesters away with their hands tied behind their backs.

Now the New York Police Department has confirmed they arrested at least 200 people at the rally, which led to the temporary closure of the station.

JVP said the peaceful sit-in on the station's concourse was "the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years".

A quick reminder that there's still a near-total blackout of communications in the Gaza Strip. Phone networks and internet have been largely cut off amid heavy Israeli bombardment of feeder lines and towers, according to the Palestine Telecommunications Company.

At the moment, Al Jazeera is unable to contact it's correspondents directly but they are working to find ways to bring the latest from the ground.

The Committee to Project Journalist has issued a statement saying a "communications blackout is a news blackout" that can lead to "serious consequences", including the spread of misinformation.

"At this dark hour, we stand with journalists, with those truth seekers whose daily work keeps us informed with facts that shed light on the human condition and help to hold power to account," it said.

Nihad Awad, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said "genocide [is] happening now" in Gaza.

And, Awad stressed, it is being done "in America's name, with American weapons, with taxpayer dollars, with the President's encouragement and approval".

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has decried the communications blackout and questioned how anyone can defend it, reports Al Jazeera.

"Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable," the progressive congresswoman wrote.

"Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered. I do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice."

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has expressed "deep concern" for media workers in Gaza after the communications blackout.

It said Israel targeted Gaza's cellular and internet networks to suppress information about "new massacres" it will commit in the Palestinian territory.

"The PJS holds the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the lives of fellow journalists and urges the United Nations and its organizations and all human rights organizations to immediately intervene and stop the war of genocide in Gaza and restore access to communication in Gaza," the syndicate added in a statement.

The Washington Post earlier reported that the Biden administration is urging Israel to pursue "surgical" operations in Gaza, as opposed to a full ground incursion, reports Al Jazeera.

The report cited five unnamed US officials, who said the administration was concerned that Israel's approach could lead to a wider escalation and scuttle negotiations for the release of captives held in the besieged enclave.

"They have clearly shifted from an initial 'We have your back; we'll do whatever you want' to now, 'You really need to rethink your strategy.' And they're doing it in a careful way," one official told the newspaper.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane says the story could be part of an effort by the Biden administration to guide Israelis without officially rebuking them. It is a common strategy US administrations have used for years, she said.

"If they are talking to the Israelis, trying to guide them and give suggestions, they never do it in public," Culhane added.

Former UN special rapporteur Michael Lynk says the resolution, despite being non-binding, is "a fairly accurate barometer of international diplomatic opinion and international public opinion" on the war in Gaza.

"So, the United States I'm sure is giving … military advice to Israel in how to fight in close, densely packed urban centres – I guess lessons that it would have learnt from Fallujah and Mosul in Iraq," Lynk told Al Jazeera.

"But it's also telling Israel, 'We can't keep you immune from world opinion forever.'"

Save the Children says children will "bear the brunt" of Israel's intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera.

"While the scale and nature of this operation remain unclear, in the event of a full ground incursion, more than one million children's lives – nearly half of the 2.3 million population of Gaza – will be on the line," the group said in a statement.

Jason Lee, the group's country director in the occupied Palestinian territories, stressed that Palestinian children and their parents are experiencing "pure horror".

"The Gaza Strip is a small, densely populated urban environment, with no way out. Any military ground operation inside Gaza puts children in immediate danger and has devastating impacts on access to healthcare, water, shelter and food," he said.

The Jewish Voice for Peace advocacy group posted a video of the protest action on social media.

"Right now, Israeli warplanes are flatting entire neighborhoods in Gaza. This is what the US government is supporting," the organisation wrote on X.

Deborah Brown, the senior technology and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the near-total communication blackout in the bombarded enclave is preventing people from "communicating with loved ones and accessing life-saving medical and other essential services".

She added: "This information blackout risks providing cover for mass atrocities and contributing to impunity for human rights violations."

Amnesty International also said the lack of communication "means that it will be even more difficult to obtain critical information and evidence about human rights violations and war crimes being committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and to hear directly from those experiencing the violations".

Republican Mike Johnson, whose election to the top role in the US House of Representatives this week ended three weeks of political deadlock, posted a photo on X of him speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports Al Jazeera.

"The House of Representatives stands with Israel and I reaffirmed our strong support," he said in the post.

Johnson, an evangelical Christian and staunch conservative has promised steadfast support for Israel. In his first action as speaker, he brought a resolution in support of Israel and condemning Hamas to the House floor.

The Haaretz newspaper has also documented Johnson's ties to Israel's far-right. He travelled to Israel in 2020 on a trip organised by a group whose leader lives in an illegal Israeli settlement, according to the newspaper.

He also visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque with right-wing groups and legislators, according to Haaretz.

Al Jazeera's Safwat Kahlout, reporting from the northern Gaza Strip, cites witnesses as saying that Israel has been bombing around the Indonesian Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged territory.

Israel had accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa as a base, which the Palestinian group firmly denied.

"We don't know if this bombardment around the Al-Shifa Hospital was a kind of warning or an extension of the ongoing Israeli air raids that have been intensifying in Gaza City and in the rest of Gaza," Kahlout said.

It's just after 3am on Friday (00:00 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Here's a recap of the developments in the last few hours:

• Hamas says it is confronting Israeli ground incursions into Gaza, stressing that the group is ready to "thwart" Israel's advances.
• Israel is intensifying its bombardments of Gaza as internet and phone services go down across the Palestinian enclave.

• The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passes a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, despite US and Israeli opposition.
• UN agencies say they are unable to contact staff in Gaza amid the near-total communications blackout and call for civilians to be protected.
• Biden administration says it is "not drawing red lines" for Israel, reiterating its unwavering support for the Israeli military campaign.
• The US embassy in Lebanon urges American citizens to leave the country "now" amid fears that the conflict may widen.