Israeli tanks were seen in two Gaza City areas that are gateways to the city center, residents said on Thursday, while internet and phone lines were cut off across the Gaza Strip, a sign that ground operations were likely to escalate imminently.
Israeli forces control Gaza City's eastern suburbs and, in recent days, have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas, from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western areas where most of the population is sheltering.
"The disconnection of internet and phone services is a bad omen. It has always been a bad signal; something very brutal is going to happen," said Ismail, who only gave one name. He was using an e-SIM to connect his phone, a method that requires seeking higher ground to receive a signal.
Main network groups targeted, telecoms company says
The Palestinian Telecommunications Company said in a statement that its services had been cut off "due to the ongoing aggression and the targeting of the main network routes".
The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment on the blackout.
In its latest statement to the media, it said troops were expanding their operations in Gaza City, dismantling terror infrastructure and eliminating terrorists, and continuing to operate in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
Israel says it wants to smash Hamas in its strongholds and free the last hostages still being held in Gaza, but its latest major offensive after two years of devastating war has drawn international condemnation.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel announced on August 10 it intended to take control, but a greater number are staying put, either in battered homes among the ruins or in makeshift tent encampments.
People scared of offensive but many have no way to leave
Bassam Al-Qanou, a displaced man sheltering with around 30 family members in a ragged improvised tent camp on the beach, said they had no way to get out, and nowhere to go.
"We are scared, but what can we do?" he said, adding that the children couldn't sleep because of the booms of missile strikes from sea, air, and ground.
The military has been dropping leaflets urging residents to flee towards a designated humanitarian zone in the south of the territory, but aid agencies say conditions there are dire, with insufficient food, medicine, space, and inadequate shelter.
Tanks seen in two strategically located neighborhoods
Along the coastal road, an unbroken column of every type of vehicle from carts and beaten-up cars to vans designed to carry goods was moving south, heavily laden with mattresses, gas cylinders, and entire families perched on their belongings.
"We are heading to sleep on the streets towards the beach, like this barefoot, we don't know where to go," said Yasser Saleh, speaking as he stood on the edge of a rickety trailer being pulled by a car.
In Sheikh Radwan, which is north of the city centre and has come under heavy bombardment in recent days, residents said they had seen tanks in the heart of their neighborhood.