Israel's war against Gaza rebels will be "long and difficult", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, after Hamas demanded the release of all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages it took on October 7.
The United Nations has warned that thousands more civilians could die in Gaza as Israel's ground operation expands into the Hamas-ruled territory.
Israel launched a major military operation after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 220 hostages.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 7,703 people, most of them civilians, more than 3,500 of them children.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned of the "potentially catastrophic consequences of a large-scale ground operation in Gaza", declaring that "thousands more civilians" could die.
The intense strikes against Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, have provided an opportunity for Israeli ground forces to step up operations.
"Since the late hours of October 27, Israeli infantry has been operating on the ground in the northern part of the Gaza Strip," the IDF announced.
"This is the second stage of the war, the goals of which are clear: to destroy the military and leadership capabilities of Hamas and return the hostages home," Netanyahu told a news conference.
"The war in the Gaza Strip will be long and difficult and we are prepared for it," he added, describing the conflict as an "existential test" for Israel.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for his part, said: "we have entered a new phase of the war" as "the ground in Gaza is shaking" from the Israeli strikes.
"We attacked above ground and underground," Gallant said, referring to the network of tunnels built by Hamas under Gaza.
Israeli planes dropped leaflets over the city warning residents that the area was now a "battlefield".
"The temporary accommodation camps in northern Gaza are not safe," the IDF said, urging residents to "evacuate immediately" to the south.
The army had already issued similar warnings earlier in its campaign, but many who fled south returned home after failing to find refuge.
The armed wing of Hamas has said it is ready to release the hostages it kidnapped on October 7 if Israel frees all Palestinian prisoners on its territory.
"The price to be paid for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is the emptying of Israeli prisons of all Palestinian prisoners," said the spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida.
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, said the group was ready to make an "immediate" exchange.
About 230 hostages are being held in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, with officials saying dozens of them are foreigners or hold dual citizenship.
Facing growing anger over the fate of the captives as Israel ramps up its war against Hamas, Netanyahu met with representatives of the hostages' relatives.
Netanyahu did not commit to a specific prisoner exchange deal, but assured the families that Israel would "exhaust every opportunity to bring them home."
Hundreds of buildings and homes were completely destroyed and thousands damaged, officials in Gaza said.
Amid the rubble in the Shatti refugee camp in northern Gaza, Alaa Mahdi likened the destruction to an "earthquake." "If it had been a natural earthquake, it would have been much easier for us compared to what happened last night," he said.
Hamas retaliated with another rocket attack that wounded three people in central Israel.
Billionaire Elon Musk announced that his Starlink satellite service will maintain internet access for "internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza" a day after communications and phone networks were completely cut.
The communications shutdown sparked alarm, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying it affected emergency calls and critical ambulance movement, while Human Rights Watch warned the decision could provide "cover for mass atrocities."
Starlink is a network of satellites in low Earth orbit that can provide internet to remote locations or areas where normal communications infrastructure is disabled.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a "pause in hostilities" to allow aid to be delivered to Gaza after the UN General Assembly called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".
The October 27 non-binding resolution received overwhelming support, but Israel and the United States criticized the position because it did not mention the terrorist group Hamas.
Addressing a rally of several hundred thousand pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "the main culprits for what is happening in Gaza are Israel and the West."
His comments prompted Israel to recall all its diplomats from Turkey.
More than 1.4 million people are displaced in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Food, water and electricity supplies are almost completely cut off.
The first aid convoy crossed the Rafah border crossing on October 21, but so far only 84 trucks have passed through, according to the UN. By comparison, an average of 500 trucks a day entered Gaza before the war began. /BGNES
.jpeg)
