Israel enters new phase of war on Hamas, expanding ground attacks

Israel entered a new phase of its war on Hamas on Saturday, expanding its ground attacks after blacking out nearly all communication in the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment and artillery fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a war for Israel's existence, and said "'Never again' is now."

Gaza residents described the massive bombardment from the land, air and sea as the most intense of the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas war. Other countries and aid agencies say 2.3 million lives are in peril with Gazans cut off from the outside world and international help blocked at the border.

• Complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war

The Palestinian death toll passed 7,700, most of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government. At least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza, and four hostages have been released.

Here's what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

RED CRESCENT SAYS BLACKOUT KEEPING AID OUTSIDE GAZA

JERUSALEM -- No international aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as the communications blackout created by Israel continued.

Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told The Associated Press that no aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday because communication was impossible and teams inside Gaza couldn't connect with Egyptian Red Crescent or United Nations personnel.

Before Saturday, a total of 84 aid trucks were let into Gaza, a tiny amount for a population of 2.3 million people in need of power, food, medical supplies and clean drinking water.

2nd U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP MOVES INTO MEDITERRANEAN

WASHINGTON -- The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved through the Strait of Gibraltar, putting two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, a rare sight in recent years.

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a buildup of forces as the U.S. supports Israel in its war against Hamas.

The Eisenhower sailed into the Mediterranean on Saturday and is slated to move through the Suez Canal to the U.S. Central Command region as the American forces expand their presence in the Middle East to deter Iran and its proxy militant groups from trying to widen the war.

COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT HAS PALESTINIANS PANICKING

Now that Israeli bombs have cut off cellular and internet service for most of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, it has fallen to a rare few Palestinians with international SIM cards or powered-up satellite phones to get the news out.

They described scenes of panic and confusion as Israel's military attacks from the air, land and sea in the most intense bombing yet in the three-week war. Without social media to share their plight with the world, many seem consumed with fear and hopelessness.

Reached by WhatsApp, freelance photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra in northern Gaza said the international community must intervene to save the people of Gaza from immediate death. Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary reported that some 50,000 people have converged on Gaza's largest hospital, where doctors are exhausted from operating on patient after patient using dwindling fuel and medical supplies.

GOP CANDIDATES OFFER UNBRIDLED SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

LAS VEGAS – U.S. Republican presidential candidates are professing unbridled support for Israel in speeches to an influential GOP Jewish group in Las Vegas. The campaign stop came as Israel entered a new phase of its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Former vice president Mike Pence suspended his campaign and used his last speech as a candidate to call on Democratic President Joe Biden to unconditionally support Israel's response to a Hamas attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis.

Candidates Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy also said Israel's right to defend itself is unequivocal. Nikki Haley noted that former President Donald Trump had lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Hamas attack and referred to the militant group Hezbollah as "very smart." Trump, the frontrunner, called himself "the best friend Israel ever had."

ISRAEL CALLS HAMAS PRISONER SWAP OFFER 'PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR'

JERUSALEM -- Hamas's top leader in Gaza Yehia Sinwar said the Palestinian militant groups are ready to release Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israel's jails.

"We are ready immediately to have an exchange deal that includes releasing all prisoners in the prisons of the Zionist occupation enemy in return for the release of all prisoners held by the resistance," he said in a comment posted Saturday evening on Hamas media groups.

The Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, dismissed the offer as "psychological terror" andsaid Israel is working on multiple channels to free the hostages.

ISRAEL SAYS ITS WARPLANES HIT 150 UNDERGROUND TARGETS

One of the biggest threats to both Israeli troops and the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip is buried deep underground.

Israel's military said Saturday that its warplanes struck 150 underground Hamas targets in northern Gaza, including tunnels, combat spaces and other infrastructure. But the extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by Hamas is believed to stretch for hundreds of miles (kilometres), hiding fighters, an arsenal of rockets and now more than 200 Israeli hostages.

Clearing and collapsing those tunnels is crucial to dismantling Hamas. But Israel's military could be at a serious disadvantage underground. Urban warfare experts say there's millions of hidden locations the militants can be waiting in, enabling them to determine when and where to ambush their enemies.

Former Israeli soldier Ariel Bernstein described urban combat in northern Gaza as a mix of ambushes, traps, hideouts and snipers in tunnels so disorienting that it was like he was fighting ghosts.

ISRAELI PM SAYS GAZA WAR IS EXISTENTIAL, 'NEVER AGAIN IS NOW'

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war against Hamas will be "long and difficult," calling it a battle of good versus evil and a struggle for Israel's existence.

Netanyahu told the nation in a televised news conference Saturday night that Israel has opened a "new phase" in the war -- by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea. He said these activities would only increase as Israel prepares for a broad ground invasion.

The goal, he said, is the complete destruction of Hamas.

"We always said, 'Never again,"' he said. "Never again is now."

ROCKETS, AIR STRIKES AND ANOTHER HOSPITAL HIT

A Palestinian militant group in Gaza said it fired barrage of rockets Saturday evening on Tel Aviv and on Ashkelon and Ashdod in southern Israel. The rockets by Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was the latest in a serious of rocket attacks on Israel on Saturday as Israeli forces continued its relentless air and land bombardment.

One of the Israeli airstrikes across northern Gaza late Saturday afternoon caused damage to the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, according to freelance journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of the few journalists in Gaza who remain connected to the outside world. He shared images of the hospital's damaged roof.

Communications across Gaza have been increasingly difficult. A blackout has disrupted the work of ambulances and aid groups in the besieged strip.

PROTESTS SPREAD, CALLING ON ISRAEL TO STOP GAZA WAR

PARIS -- Police encircled hundreds of people who defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration Saturday in central Paris. The officers tried to contain the protest but fired tear gas when tensions rose as a breakaway group tried to march.

The protest collective known as Urgence Palestine called for a ceasefire in the increasingly intense war between Israel and Hamas. Other pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in Marseille and Strasbourg in the east.

Demonstrations also took place Saturday in Turkiye, London, Indonesia, Pakistan, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and New York, where protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge a day after filling Grand Central Station, many wearing black T-shirts saying "Jews say cease-fire now" and "Not in our name."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of hundreds of thousands that Western nations are responsible and that "Israel, we will proclaim you as a war criminal to the world."

ISRAEL DISMISSES CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGE-SWAP

JERUSALEM -- As Israeli airstrikes and an intensified ground attack pounded northern Gaza on Saturday, a representative for the families of the hostages held by Hamas told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they support a prisoner swap.

"As far as the families are concerned, a deal of a return of our family members immediately in the framework of 'all for all' is feasible, and there will be wide national support for this," said MeIrav Gonen, the representative. Her daughter, Romi, is one of the hostages.

Israel's government has not yet commented on Hamas's offer to free all the hostages in exchange for Israel releasing all Palestinians held in Israeli jails. It was unclear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possibility of a prisoner swap during the meeting with the families, or if he specified any military or diplomatic plan to achieve the release of hostages.

Israel's military has said it will be able to continue its devastating campaign on Gaza while rescuing the hostages, and has dismissed the possibility of a Hamas-proposed ceasefire deal in exchange for their release. Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday that by proposing the ceasefire, Hamas was engaged in a "cynical exploitation" of their families' anxieties.

NETANYAHU MEETS FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES AS TUNNELS ARE BOMBED

TEL AVIV -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he has met again with representatives of the families of the people taken hostage in Gaza, telling them Israel will exhaust every possibility to bring them home.

The Israeli military says Hamas militants kidnapped more than 200 people on Oct. 7 and took them into a network of tunnels inside the densely populated Gaza Strip. In the night from Friday to Saturday, Israeli war planes bombed Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers in dozens of strikes, heightening the concerns of relatives of hostages over the fate of their loved ones.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara met with the families in Kirya in Tel Aviv. His office said he told them that getting abductees released is one of the goals of the war. He told them that the greater the pressure, the greater the chances for bringing them home.

Hundreds of family members had demonstrated in Tel Aviv earlier Saturday, expressing fears that military leaders are being cavalier with the lives of the hostages. "The families feel like they're they're left behind and no one is really caring about them," said Miki Haimovitz, a former lawmaker.

UN LEADER RENEWS CEASEFIRE PLEA: 'HISTORY WILL JUDGE US ALL'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of hostages and a delivery of humanitarian aid the strip's 2.3 million people.

"This situation must be reversed," he said Saturday in a statement following his meeting in Doha with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. "This is the moment of truth. Everyone must assume their responsibilities. History will judge us all."

He warned that the ongoing escalation, including relentless Israeli bombardment and a communication blackout, would have devastating impacts and undermine "the referred humanitarian objectives."

SPOKESMAN SAYS HAMAS IS READY TO TRADE HOSTAGES FOR PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

The spokesman for the military wing of Hamas says the group is ready to swap dozens of hostages it is holding for all the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The spokesman, using the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, said in a televised speech Saturday that such a deal also could be conducted in stages, but that Israelis "should know the price that they have to pay."

On Saturday, hundreds of relatives of hostages gathered in a square in downtown Tel Aviv and demanded that the government put the return of their loved ones ahead of Israel's military objectives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet with the hostage families later Saturday. Military officials have said they are trying to both topple Hamas and bring back the hostages but have not explained how they could obtain both objectives at the same time.

The families of the hostages fear Israel's ramped-up offensive in Gaza is endangering the captives.

OMAN SEEKS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION

Oman's Foreign Ministry says Israel's siege and bombardment of Gaza amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Omani ministry said in a statement that a wide-scale Israeli ground invasion of Gaza would have "serious catastrophic consequences on the region and the world, and the prospects of achieving peace and stability."

Oman has a long record of serving as a key broker between Iran and the West when regional tensions flare.

The ministry called for the international community to immediately intervene to stop the Israel-Hamas war and to speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.

HAMAS REPORTS FIRING ROCKETS AT ISRAELI CITY OF DIMONA

BEIRUT -- A top Hamas official said Saturday that by shutting down most communications, Israel aims to prevent "the truth" about what is happening in the Gaza Strip from reaching the world.

Speaking to reporters in Beirut on Saturday, Ghazi Hamad alleged that Israel has made "baseless claims and lies" about Hamas militants hiding in tunnels under the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza "to justify the targeting of the hospital."

He said that Israel has forced Palestinians to move from northern parts of Gaza into the southern parts with plans to try to push them to move to Egypt.

"We strongly reject that and say that our Palestinians will stay in their land," Hamad said.

But he called on the international community to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza from Egypt, specifically medical equipment and fuel.

Meanwhile, Hamas' military arm, Qassam Brigades, said Saturday afternoon it fired a barrage of rockets on Dimona, a southern Israeli city on the edge of the Negev Desert.

TURKIYE PREPARING TO DECLARE ISRAEL A 'WAR CRIMINAL,' PRESIDENT SAYS

ISTANBUL -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a mass pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul on Saturday that his country was making preparations to proclaim Israel a "war criminal" for its actions in Gaza.

In his address to hundreds of thousands of people who joined the rally, Erdogan also held western countries responsible for the deaths in Gaza for failing to stop Israel's attacks.

"Israel, we will proclaim you as a war criminal to the world," Erdoga said. "We are making our preparations, and we will declare Israel to the world as a war criminal."

Erdogan, whose government recently restored full diplomatic ties with Israel, has stepped up his criticism of the country. Earlier this week, he asserted that the Hamas militant group was not a terrorist organization but a liberation group fighting for its lands and people.

Participants at the rally waved Turkish and Palestinian flags, chanting "God is great." Yusuf Islam, the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens, took part in the rally.

UN CHIEF SURPRISED BY ISRAEL'S 'UNPRECEDENTED' BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was surprised by Israel's massive overnight airstrikes on Gaza amid a communication blackout across the besieged strip.

Writing Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Guterres said he previously had felt encouraged by an apparent growing consensus on the need for a humanitarian ceasefire.

"Regrettably, instead I was surprised by an unprecedented escalation of bombardments, undermining humanitarian objectives. This situation must be reversed," he said.

Guterres called President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt on Saturday, and the two discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the war between Israel and Hamas, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF: ISRAEL'S MILITARY ACTION TAKES PAIN IN GAZA TO 'A NEW LEVEL'

The UN human rights chief said Israel's overnight intense air and ground bombardment has taken the crisis in Gaza to "a new level of violence and pain."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk's comments came in a statement Saturday as Gaza remained cut off from the outside world following a communication blackout.

He said the communication blackout has added to the misery and suffering of civilians in the Palestinian territory, with ambulances and civil defence teams no longer able to locate the wounded.

The humanitarian and human rights consequences will be devastating and long-lasting," Turk said. "Given the manner in which military operations have been conducted until now, in the context of the 56-year-old occupation, I am raising alarm about the possibly catastrophic consequences of large-scale ground operations in Gaza and the potential for thousands more civilians to die."

LONDON DEMONSTRATORS DEMAND A CEASEFIRE IN GAZA

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have turned out on London's streets for a second straight weekend to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

Fireworks and red and green flares were lit as huge crowds massed Saturday on the banks of the River Thames.

Mohammed Ullah, an engineer, said he was surprised politicians and governments are "not stopping this genocide against the Gaza people."

"Yes, it was a crime by Hamas. But at the same time, what the Israelis are doing, this is genocide. And these children should not be killed and murdered and they don't deserve to be treated like this," Ullah said.

Thousands of others were expected to gather in other U.K. cities, including Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.

Demonstrations also took place Saturday in Pakistan and France.

ISRAEL REPORTS STRIKING HEZBOLLAH SITES IN LEBANON

Israel's military says it is striking Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon.

It said the strikes were ordered Saturday after "several anti-tank missile and mortar shell launches were identified from Lebanese territory toward Israel," including Israeli military posts along the Israel-Lebanon border.

There has been concern that the Israel-Hamas war could expand into Lebanon and northern Israel if Hezbollah decides to join the conflict.

ISRAELI MILITARY AGAIN ADVISES GAZA RESIDENTS TO RELOCATE SOUTH

Israel's military once again ordered Palestinians in northern Gaza and Gaza City to move south as its troops expand their ground offensive in the territory.

"This is an urgent military advisory from the Israel Defense Forces," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesperson, said in a video message posted on X. "For your immediate safety, we urge all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to relocate south immediately. This is a temporary measure. Moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end."

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION APPEALS FOR A HUMANITARIAN CEASEFIRE

The World Health Organization has appealed to "the humanity in all those who have the power to do so to end the fighting now" in Gaza.

In a statement, the UN agency said health workers, patients and civilians have been subjected to a total communications and power blackout amid nighty intense bombardment and ground incursions in Gaza.

"There are more wounded every hour. But ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children," it said.

"The WHO reiterates its calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and reminds all parties to the conflict to take all precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure," the statement added.

WHO expressed "grave concerns" about reported bombardment near the Indonesia and Shifa hospitals in the northern half of Gaza.

HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY ISRAEL ATTACK HAS KILLED 377 AS AMBULANCES CHASE ARTILLERY NOISE

BEIRUT -- The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 377 people have been killed since Israel expanded its large ground offensive on Friday evening.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra told reporters Saturday that Israel has "totally paralyzed" the health network in Gaza by cutting off internet and cellular service.

"Israel has turned Gaza into pieces of fire," al-Qedra said, adding that the bombardment is the most intense since Oct. 7.

Al-Qedra said the 377 people killed in the past day raises the death total in the Gaza to 7,703 people, including 3,195 children and 1,863 women. He called on people in Gaza to donate blood, requested delivery of all blood types from the International committee of the Red Cross and urged the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to allow medical products and fuel to enter and evacuate seriously wounded people.

In Ramallah in the West Bank, the Palestinian health minister said the Gaza situation has grown dire since the bombing that cut off telecommunications to most people, including hospital teams.

"What is happening in Gaza is a genocide," Mai al-Kailah said at a press conference .

Thousands of people are trapped under the rubble of bombed-out buildings, al-Kailah said, adding that disease is spreading rapidly among the 1.4 million displaced people forced to crowd into shelters with unsanitary conditions due to a lack of water.

With communication networks largely severed, residents had no way of calling ambulances as Israel intensified its bombardment. Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said emergency teams teams were chasing the sounds of artillery barrages and airstrikes to search for people in need.

Many Palestinians used bare hands to pull bodies from rubble and load them into personal cars or donkey carts to rush them to a hospital. In a video posted by local media, Palestinians sprinted down a ravaged street with a wounded man on a stretcher covered in the dust of a collapsed building while he winced, eyes clenched shut.

"Ambulance! Ambulance!" the men shouted as they shoved the stretcher into the back of a pickup truck and shouted at the driver, "Go! Go!"

LEADERS OF EGYPT AND TURKIYE CALL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AND END TO MILITARY ACTION

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis of Egypt on Saturday urged for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying the number of trucks allowed into the besieged territory is far below the needs of Gaza's population.

"The needs are massive," he said in televised comments, noting the importance of all aid being delivered.

The Egyptian government was working to de-escalate the conflict through talks with the warring parties, including discussions about releasing prisoners and hostages, he said without providing details.

Egypt's foreign ministry warned about "gave risks" of a wide-scale Israeli ground invasion, slamming Israel for not respecting the UN General Assembly's resolution on Friday calling for a "humanitarian truce."

An invasion would result in "unprecedented humanitarian and security repercussions" including a surge in casualties among civilians and eventual destabilization of the region, the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Israel to emerge from what he described as its "state of insanity" and end military actions.

"The ever-increasing Israeli bombardments on Gaza, which intensified last night, have targeted women, children and innocent civilians, deepening the humanitarian crisis," Erdogan wrote in a message posted Saturday on X, formerly Twitter. "Israel must immediately emerge of this state of insanity and stop its attacks."

Erdogan is scheduled to attend a mass rally organized by his ruling party in Istanbul to show solidarity with Palestinians on Saturday, which he said would be used to "make this call louder and shout that we stand with the Palestinian people against the Israeli oppression."

HAMAS CALLS INCURSION A FAILURE, ISRAEL CLAIMS TO SHOOT DOWN MISSILE

CAIRO -- Hamas has proclaimed Israel's overnight ground incursion to be a failure.

Hamas said in a statement Saturday that its military arm, Qassam Brigades, used anti-tank Kornet rockets and mortar shelling to repel the attack and claimed its fighters inflicted casualties among Israeli troops. The militant group did not provide evidence.

Qassam Brigades said late Friday its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in the town of Beit Hanoun in northwestern Gaza and in Al-Bureij in central Gaza.

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said it fired a barrage of rockets Saturday morning on the Kissufim kibbutz, northwest of the Negev desert.

Israel's military announced it shot down a missile fired at an Israeli drone from Lebanon Saturday. It was not immediately clear if the missile was fired by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone fired three missiles on a Hezbollah stronghold in an area relatively far from the border Saturday. The agency said the drone struck the Safi Mountain in Lebanon's southern Apple province where Hezbollah has posts.

A Lebanese security official meanwhile, confirmed the report, but a Hezbollah official said they had no immediate comment about the strike when contacted by The Associated Press.

HOSTAGE FAMILIES TO MEET WITH ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he will meet families of hostages held in Gaza on Sunday.

The families warned Saturday they would begin protesting if Gallant and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet with them.

Hundreds of family members of hostages held in Gaza milled around a central square in downtown Tel Aviv Saturday opposite Israel's Defense Ministry wearing shirts saying, "Bring them back," and emblazoned with the faces of their relatives under the word "kidnapped."

The families said they want the meeting because of increased apprehension about their loved ones after Israel ramped up attacks on Gaza overnight Friday.

The military's claim it is targeting tunnel infrastructure has prompted fear among the families that military leaders are being cavalier with the lives of the hostages, who are believed to be held inside the tunnels.

"The families that are here are deeply concerned about their families and their loved ones," said Miki Haimovitz, a former lawmaker acting as a group spokesperson. "They feel like they're they're left behind and no one is really caring about them. No one is talking to them. No one is explaining what's going on."

ISRAEL ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF GROUND OPERATION INTO GAZA

Israel is expanding its ground operation in Gaza with infantry and armoured vehicles backed by "massive" strikes from the air and sea, the Israeli military spokesman said Saturday.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said "the forces are still on the ground and are continuing the war."

Troops previously conducted brief nightly ground incursions before returning to Israel.

Earlier Saturday, the military released videos showing columns of armoured vehicles moving slowly in open, sandy areas of Gaza, the first visual confirmation of ground troops. The military said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers.

Journalists inside Gaza who were able to communicate with the outside world said there was intense Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza overnight and early Saturday.

"The raids were very intense from artillery shelling and air raids. There is an explosion, gunfire and clashes are heard on the border," journalist Mohammed Abdel-Rahman told The Associated Press.

They heard sounds of clashes Saturday morning on the western borders of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and "artillery shelling from time to time, intermittent and not continuous," Abdel-Rahman said.

Another journalist, Anas al-Sharif, reported shelling close to the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia and said rescuers have retrieved wounded people and many bodies from rubble across northern Gaza.

Israel's military also announced Saturday it had struck and killed a top Hamas naval operative, Ratib Abu Tzahiban, who it says orchestrated an attempted naval attack in Israel on Oct. 24. It was unclear if the military was referring to an episode when a group of Hamas divers were repelled after trying to infiltrate Israel on a beach north of Gaza.

WHO, WFP AND DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS LOSE CONTACT WITH TEAMS, AGENCIES SAY

CAIRO -- The UN health agency and other aid groups said Saturday they remain unable to communicate with their teams in the besieged Gaza Strip during intense Israeli air and land bombardment.

Tedros Adhanom, head of the World Health Organization, said the blackout has made it "impossible for ambulances to reach the injured."

"We are still out of touch with our staff and health facilities. I'm worried about their safety," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, said the organization was "extremely worried" about aid workers and civilians in Gaza following the blackout preventing communications its team.

"As conflict rages on, I am extremely worried for the safety of all humanitarian workers and civilians, she said on X. "We are at a tipping point. Humanity must prevail."

UNWRA, the UN agency for refugees, announced that as of Friday, 58 staff members had been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Juliette Touma, communications director, said in a text to the AP that the organization has very limited communications with its director currently in Rafah and is working to re-establish contact with its teams, including those in UNRWA shelters attempting to assist up to 600,000 displaced Palestinians.

Guillemette Thomas, Palestinian territories medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said the aid group had not able to reach its team for more than 12 hours.

"The situation is very difficult," she told The Associated Press. "We can't communicate with our team. We don't know whether they are safe."

In the occupied West Bank, increased violence from Israeli settlers has prompted many Palestinians, particularly Bedouin communities, to flee. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories said Friday that settler violence in the West Bank has displaced more than 600 Palestinians, including 211 children.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said a settler shot dead a 40-year-old Palestinian man in the town of Sawiya in Nablus on Saturday.

LARGE DEMONSTRATION AT U.S. EMBASSY IN INDONESIA CALLS FOR END TO WAR

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- More than 3,000 protesters marched to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Indonesia's capital on Saturday to demand an end to the war and bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags, the protesters, many wearing white Islamic robes, filled a major thoroughfare in downtown Jakarta running outside the embassy. About 1,000 police were deployed around the compound, which is blocked off by concrete road barriers.

The protesters, organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council, known as MUI, chanted "God is Great" and "Freedom for Palestine" during the noisy but peaceful protest. Banners and placards proclaimed, "We stand with Gaza," and slammed the Israeli government while denouncing the staunch U.S. support of Israel.

"We are not willing to allow our brothers and sisters in Palestine to be tyrannized or genocided by Israel," MUI Secretary General of MUI Amirsyah Tambunan told the crowd. "We will continue to support and fight for Palestinian independence and sovereignty."

NYC PROTESTERS DEMAND GAZA CEASEFIRE, MANY ARRESTED AFTER FILLING GRAND CENTRAL TRAIN STATION

NEW YORK -- Hundreds of protesters in black T-shirts filled New York City's iconic Grand Central Terminal during the evening rush hour on Friday to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Many of the protesters were detained by police and taken out of the station, their hands zip tied behind their backs. The NYPD could not immediately say how many were taken into custody.

"Hundreds of Jews and friends are taking over Grand Central Station in a historic sit-in calling for a ceasefire," advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace said on social media.

Inside the main concourse, protesters wearing shirts that read "ceasefire now" and "not in our name" chanted, with some holding banners in front of the list of departure times. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked commuters to use Penn Station as an alternative.

The scene echoed last week's sit-in where more than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating on Capitol Hill in Washington.

EXPLOSIONS SHATTER THE NIGHT SKY OVER GAZA AS ISRAEL EXPANDS BOMBING

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The dull orange glow of Israeli flares shone in the night sky over Gaza, slowly descending through the haze to illuminate targets for warplanes before eventually flickering out, plunging the scene back into darkness.

Multiple explosions from Israeli airstrikes tore into northern Gaza on Friday, quick flashes of bright orange silhouetted against the rooftops of Palestinian apartments and refugee camps. The sharp crunching sound of the bombs followed each time, seconds later, one after another.

Overhead, the buzz of Israeli military drones cut through, growing quieter and louder as the crafts circled the airspace.

For most Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, their world has shrunk to these few sounds and colours.

Israel dramatically ramped up its bombardment Friday after knocking out internet and communication in Gaza, largely cutting off the tiny besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from contact with each other and the outside world.