Israel pounds Gaza on 99th day of war

Israel pounded Gaza on Saturday as the Palestinian territory suffered under a dire humanitarian situation and grappled with a telecommunications blackout on the 99th day of the war.

Fears of the conflict widening have grown after U.S. and British forces struck pro-Hamas Huthi rebels in Yemen following attacks on Red Sea shipping, with a fresh U.S. air strike confirmed Saturday.

Witnesses reported Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the early morning, and an AFP journalist said Friday that strikes and shelling had hit areas between Gaza's southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, crowded with people who have fled from the north.

All internet and telecommunications services in Gaza were cut Friday as a result of Israeli bombardment, the main operator Paltel said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the disruption was increasing the challenges in "reaching the wounded and injured promptly".

Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 23,708 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest health ministry figures.

 'Systematic' aid blocking'

U.N. aid agency OCHA's head for the occupied Palestinian territories told AFP on Friday that Israel was constantly blocking humanitarian aid convoys into northern Gaza.

"They have been very systematic in not allowing us to support hospitals, which is something that is reaching a point of a level of inhumanity that for me is beyond comprehension," Andrea De Domenico said.

In central Gaza, a lack of fuel forced the shutdown of the main generator of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the health ministry said.

 Medicines deal 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said...