Gaza City, October 29 (RHC)-- Gaza remains under a communications blackout for a second day as aid groups say they are unable to contact teams on the ground.

During the past several hours -- early Sunday morning in Gaza -- Israel intensified its bombardment in the North of the Gaza Strip, specifically near Jabalia refugee camp where an entire neighborhood has been attacked and dozens of residential buildings were completely erased off the map.

During a press conference in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- in this first appearance before reporters and taking questions since the military aggression began three weeks ago -- the war in Gaza will be “long and difficult.”   Netanyahu said that Israel is intensifying its aerial strikes and moving to the "next phase of operations."

Israel continues to pound different areas inside Gaza, levelling to the ground hundreds of residential buildings, without any kind of prior warning in the north and central areas of the Gaza Strip.

According to media reports, with every hour that passes, more than 50 Palestinians are killed by the Israeli ongoing strikes.  The vast majority of the death toll as the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced are young children and women.

At the same time, there are reports early Sunday morning of increased incursions by Israel occupation forces into the West Bank.  There is apparently some resistance to the raids and casualties have been suffered by the invasion troops.

Israel’s chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel was behind the telecommunications blackout that hit Gaza and left the besieged enclave largely cut off from the world.   The Israeli minister of communications says the country will “use all means at its disposal to fight” the use of Elon Musk’s Starlink to support connectivity for aid groups in Gaza.