The Israeli military said its forces entered Gaza overnight and expanded ground operations with infantry, tanks and artillery. “The forces still remain in the field and continue the war,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said early Saturday. His comments raise the prospect that a long-anticipated sustained Israeli ground incursion could have begun. As airstrikes hit the besieged Palestinian territory, Gaza faced a “total or near total” internet blackout, according to internet monitoring groups. Several aid groups say they are unable to reach their staff members inside Gaza, as the World Health Organization warned the outage would prevent ambulances from reaching the injured. Reporters for The Washington Post and other outlets said they had lost contact with colleagues inside Gaza.
