Piers Morgan breaks silence on Gaza, calls out Israel's communication blackout

Piers Morgan, the host of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" voiced his support for Palestinians in Gaza and called out Israel's bombardment resulting in a total communications blackout in the besieged strip.

Morgan has received criticism for not supporting the Palestinian stance in his show.

His recent statements were one of the first words of regard for vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza.

"Where are these Palestinians going to live when the war is over? So many of their homes are being destroyed. Does Israel have an answer? Does it care?" Morgan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) raising concerns about the humanitarian crisis faced by Palestinians in Gaza and calling out Israel's actions.

He questioned a post from the official IDF account on X stated as "an urgent message for the residents of Gaza" by saying: "How are they (Gazans) supposed to hear this msg if you’ve cut off their ability to communicate?"

Following the shutdown of phone and internet services, Gaza remains cut off from the outside world as media and humanitarian organisations caution that the communications blockade may serve as cover for crimes committed within the beleaguered territory.

After some of the worst bombing of the conflict and reports by Hamas of Israeli forces making a few small ground incursions throughout the night, Palestinians in Gaza were cut off from outsiders for a second day on Saturday.

Israel's shelling of the Gaza Strip has destroyed "all remaining international routes connecting Gaza to the outside world," according to a late Friday statement from Palestinian telecom company Jawwal.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Saturday that at least 7,703 people have been killed in the war with Israel that erupted on October 7.

More than 3,500 children are among the dead. The overall figure is the highest number of war fatalities in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Gazans were "not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege".

A first tranche of aid was allowed in last weekend, but only 74 trucks have crossed since then. The UN says an average of 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the conflict.

"These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference," Lazzarini said.

Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close, and UNRWA said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations".

Israel's military accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza as operations centres for directing attacks, an allegation Hamas denied.