Israeli ground forces are expanding their activity Friday evening as an army spokesperson announced ”the IDF is acting with great force … to achieve the objectives of the war.”

Not long before that, Palestinian telecom provider Paltel said internet service in the Gaza Strip had been cut off by Israeli bombardment that light up the night sky.

The man emergency service in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent, says it was cut off form its operations room in the strip because of the internet blackout and that landline and cell communications had also been cut.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says the next stage is a ground offensive that ”’will take a long time.”