Gaza communications blackout ends, giving rise to hope for the resumption of critical aid deliveries

By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMY MAGDY and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Internet and phone service has been partially restored to the Gaza Strip, ending a telecommunications blackout that forced the United Nations to shut down critical humanitarian aid deliveries because it was unable to coordinate its convoys. Meantime, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building on the outskirts of the town of Khan Younis early Saturday, killing at least 26 Palestinians. That’s according to a doctor at the hospital where the bodies were taken. Israel has signaled plans to expand its offensive southward while continuing operations in the north. In northern Gaza at the territory’s biggest hospital, Shifa, troops are still searching for traces of a Hamas command center.