Israeli forces “went into the Gaza Strip and expanded the ground operation where infantry, armor and engineer units and artillery with heavy fire are taking part,” Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday morning.
“The forces are in the field and continue the fighting,” he added, without giving further details.
Hagari’s words confirm the military operation has undergone a significant expansion after what it had earlier described as two “targeted raids,” which took place on Wednesday night and Thursday night. Both those raids saw ground forces withdraw after a few hours.
However, it does not appear as though any major ground offensive aimed at seizing and holding significant amounts of the territory is yet underway.
Near the Gaza border, staging grounds once teeming with hundreds of Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers have mostly emptied out when a CNN team visited.
CNN also observed some tank units returning from the direction of Gaza, back to their forward operating positions.
The IDF said on Saturday that its warplanes hit 150 underground targets in the north of the enclave, striking what it called terror tunnels and underground combat spaces and killing several Hamas operatives.
Hagari said Gazans who had moved south of Wadi Gaza, a waterway bisecting the center of the strip, were in an area he called a “protected space,” and would receive more food, water and medicine today, though he did not give any details.
More than 2 million people live in the enclave, which spans just 140 square miles and is one of the most densely-populated places on Earth. For weeks, people living in the territory have faced Israeli airstrikes and a growing humanitarian situation, with shortages of water, food and fuel.
At least 7,650 people have been killed and more than 19,450 more injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the latest figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave.
Gazans mourned the loss of their loved ones on Saturday following a night of intense Israeli airstrikes, with many gathering at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah in central Gaza.
Video captured by CNN shows multiple bodies, including those of children, covered in white shrouds or thick blankets, placed on the ground in the hospital yard.
Dr. Khalil Al-Dikran told CNN the hospital had received 22 bodies overnight and hundreds of injured. He said people had brought the dead and the wounded to hospital using everything from bikes, cars and donkey carts.
Hospitals have lost contact with each other, he said, after communications networks were cut across the strip. “People are desperate to find some news about their loved ones and their families,” he added.
Al-Dikran said that after a pause of several hours, airstrikes had resumed again in central and northern Gaza, adding that artillery fire had continued uninterrupted through the night.
The IDF on Saturday conducted heavy artillery strikes against northern Gaza, with multiple explosions heard every minute.
A CNN team on the ground at an Israeli checkpoint near the strip perimeter witnessed intense and continuous explosions and air power. Smoke could also be seen rising from the enclave. Some of the explosions were so strong that the impact could be felt physically where the team was, around a kilometer (less than a mile) from the border.
The IDF reserve soldiers manning the position told CNN that Friday night was by far the most intense night of bombing.
Israeli troops have cleared out a large perimeter around the Gaza Strip, fearing incoming anti-tank weapons.
Communications in the enclave have been severely disrupted, leaving aid agencies out of touch with their staff on the ground.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday morning that reports of the intense bombardment are “extremely distressing.” He added: “We are still out of touch with our staff and health facilities. I’m worried about their safety.”
He said that it is “not possible” to evacuate patients or find safe shelter under such circumstances, and the “blackout is also making it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured.”
The WHO posted on social media that health workers, patients and civilians in Gaza spent the night “in darkness and fear” as they were “subject to a total communication and electrical blackout.”
The organization said hospitals across Gaza are operating at maximum capacity, unable to take in new patients whilst also “sheltering thousands of civilians.”
“There are more [people] wounded every hour,” the WHO said. “But ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children.”
It reiterated a call for “immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” adding that safe passage must also be ensured for “desperately needed medical supplies, fuel, water and food into and across Gaza.”
Several United Nations agencies have also reported losing contact with their local staff in Gaza.
While communications are largely severed, according to the local telecoms provider Jawwal, those with Israeli or international SIMs appear to have some patchy connections.
The expanded operation has left families of the more than 200 hostages taken to Gaza fearful for their loved ones.
A group lobbying for the families of Israeli hostages spoke of “the most terrible of all nights” as emotions spiked with the IDF’s expansion of its ground operation.
“Anxiety, frustration, and especially enormous anger that none of the war cabinet bothered to meet with the families of the hostages to explain one thing – whether the ground operation endangers the well-being of the 229 hostages in Gaza,” said the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.
Hagari told reporters on Friday that the IDF had notified the families of hostages about the expanded operations and reiterating the military was “committed to the national task of returning all hostages.”
Abed Khaled/AP
Smoke and explosions are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the enclave on Saturday, October 28.
Anas al-Shareef/Reuters
Palestinian lawyer Jehad Al-Kafarnah, whose pregnant wife and unborn child were killed in an Israeli strike, according to health officials, mourns over her shrouded body at a hospital in northern Gaza on Friday, October 27.
Dima Vazinovich/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli firefighters and rescue teams assess destruction after a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 27.
Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
A Palestinian man injured in an Israeli airstrike is carried on a stretcher at Nasser Medical Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 27.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli air force F-15 tactical fighter jet flies along the border with Gaza near Sderot, Israel, on October 27.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
People take cover as rocket sirens sound during the funeral of Sagiv Ben Zvi in Holon, Israel, on Thursday, October 26.
Omar El-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke and fire rise from a leveled building after an Israeli strike on Gaza on October 26.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
A woman looks from behind a gate at the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 26.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza demonstrate in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 26.
Yasser Qudih/Reuters
A Palestinian child is assisted as people search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City on Wednesday, October 25.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards Gaza on October 25.
Francisco Seco/AP
A woman with a photograph of a child who was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel hands out yellow ribbons to passing drivers in central Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 25.
Ali Mohmoud/AP
Rescuers assist a survivor of an Israeli bombardment in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 24.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media after she was released by Hamas, outside Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 24.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians mourn their loved ones killed in an Israeli strike, outside Najjar hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on October 24.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Israeli soldiers stand guard as smoke rises following a rocket launched in southern Israel on October 24.
Mai Yaghi/AFP/Getty Images
A baby receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on Monday, October 23.
Mohammed Zaanoun/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A view of buildings reduced to rubble and ruins by Israeli airstrikes are seen in Gaza on October 23.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Mourners hold hands during the funeral of Sgt. Yam Goldstein and her father, Nadav, in Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel, on October 23.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier stands in an armored vehicle near the Lebanon border on October 23.
Said Khatub/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian woman mourns over the body of a relative killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on Sunday, October 22.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Pictures of over 1,000 people abducted, missing or killed in the Hamas attack are displayed on empty seats in the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 22.
Hatem Moussa/AP
Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 22.
Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu/Getty Images
Relatives mourn for a man killed by Hamas during his funeral in Nir Oz, Israel, on October 22.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
Injured civilians are recovered from the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli air strikes near a UNRWA school housing displaced people in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, October 21.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
IDF soldiers clean the barrel of a tank in southern Israel on October 21.
Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters
An aerial view of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Zahra City, Gaza, on October 21.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images.
Relatives mourn for a family killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 21.
Belal al Sabbagh/AFP/Getty Images
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing on October 21.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Relatives of hostages speak to the media during the “Lighting up the Light” campaign for the return of those held captive, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Palestinians inspect a destroyed area following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on October 21.
Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua/Redux
Children use candles for lighting in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday, October 20.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday noon prayers as Israeli police look on in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20.
Janis Laizans/Reuters
Women grieve at an event for the families of Israelis who are missing or being held hostage in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 20.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
Civil defense teams and residents continue search and rescue efforts at a Greek Orthodox church after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 20.
Abed Khaled/AP
A Palestinian woman mourns over the bodies of her relatives who were killed an Israeli airstrike that hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City on October 20.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel on Thursday, October 19.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Yasser Qudih/Reuters
A man carries a wounded child at the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 19.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Friends and relatives of Ofir Libstein, who served as head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council and died during the Kibbutz Kfar Aza attack, mourn at his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, on Wednesday, October 18.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu/Getty Images
A woman mourns over a dead man at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City on October 18.
Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
A Palestinian man inspects a destroyed house belonging to the Al-Jazzar family after an airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 18.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas are seen in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
People mourn a family during a funeral in Hod HaSharon, Israel, on October 18.
Ayal Margolin/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Israeli security inspects debris from a rocket in Kiryat Shmona, Israel, on October 18.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
From left, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden join Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials as they wait for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux
President Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Abed Khaled/AP
Wounded Palestinians sit on the floor at the Al-Shifa Hospital after being transported from the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital following a blast there on Tuesday, October 17.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Israeli security forces inspect a damaged residential building after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in Sderot, Israel on October 17.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
A bakery prepares rations of bread to pass out to displaced Palestinians in the Rafah refugee camp, in southern Gaza, on October 17.
Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP
People lay wreaths during a funeral for the Israeli Kutz family in Gan-Yavne, Israel on October 17. The family of five were murdered in their home by Palestinian militants who infiltrated the Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Aza last week.
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images
Civil defense members and residents conduct search and rescue operations amid destroyed buildings after an Israeli attack in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 17,
Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images
Aid supplies are seen in North Sinai, Egypt on October 16.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Street vendors work on a darkened street without power in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza on October 16.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
People hold Israeli flags as friends and family mourn Dor Reder at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, on October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, October 16.
Shir Torem/Reuters
People prepare to board a ship that will transport US nationals and their immediate family members from Haifa, Israel, to Cyprus on October 16.
Wahaj Bani Moufleh/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian youth during his funeral in Nablus, West Bank, on October 15.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
People carry children as they flee following an Israeli strike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, October 15.
Francisco Seco/AP
Fatima Shbair/AP
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14.
Francisco Seco/AP
Eli Albag cries over the photograph of his daughter Liri, as he gathers with others during a protest demanding the release of more than 100 Israelis who were abducted during last week’s Hamas attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 14.
Mohammed Talatene/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images
Leaflets dropped from Israeli army planes fall over Gaza City on Friday, October 13.
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
An Israeli soldier looks inside a house that was overrun by Hamas militants in Be’eri, Israel, on October 13.
Hatem Ali/AP
Palestinians rescue a wounded man from the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 13.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Israeli artillery fires on the Israel-Gaza border on October 13.
Dor Kedmi/AP
Israelis take cover after hearing warning sirens of incoming rockets fired from Gaza in Rehovot, Israel, on October 13.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 13.
Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian child is injured during bombing in Gaza on October 13.
Hatem Moussa/AP
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to seek refuge in the south, on October 13.
Francisco Seco/AP
Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday, October 12.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers patrol near Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, on October 12.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Family members of Valentin Ghnassia react during his funeral ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on October 12. Ghnassia was killed in a battle with Hamas militants in Be’eri, Israel.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier patrols near the Nova music festival grounds near Be’eri, Israel, on October 12.
Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli military helicopter flies near the border between Gaza and Sderot, Israel, on October 12.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times
Palestinians seek shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza, after a house next door was hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 12.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12.
Ibrahim Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12.
Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian woman covered in dust and dirt carries a child in Gaza City on October 12.
Baz Ratner/AP
An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday, October 11.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11.
Abed Rahim Khatib/Picture-Alliance/Getty Images
People carry bodies of Palestinians killed during an Israeli airstrike prior to their burial in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Yahya Hassouna/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City on October 11.
Francisco Seco/AP
Mourners react beside the body of Mapal Adam during her funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 11.
Abed Zagout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Palestinians run from Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Israeli soldiers load donated food into the back of a military vehicle in Sderot, Israel, on October 11.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
A mourner reacts while burying a child from the al-Agha family, who were killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
A boy carries salvaged belongings from the wreckage of his family’s home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10.
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians mourn during the funeral of a relative killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on October 10.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli airstrike on October 10.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Stranded travelers wait to be booked on a flight at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Israelis in Ashkelon take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10.
Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
Israelis mourn as they attend the funeral of Israel Defense Forces soldier Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem, on October 10.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A Palestinian man reacts as he carries the body of his cousin who was pulled from the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday, October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
A family takes shelter at a neighbor’s house after their home was damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Children run for cover as bombs fall near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 9.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
People take shelter in Jerusalem on October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
The ruins of the Yassin mosque are seen in the Shati refugee camp just outside Gaza City on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Friends and relatives of Ilai Bar Sade mourn next to his grave during his funeral at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 9.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Six-month-old Sama Alwadia is rescued from the rubble in Gaza City on October 9. Though the child had survived the initial strike, she died later while being treated for her injuries.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Lightning strikes over Gaza City following an Israeli bombardment on October 9.
Oren Ziv/AP
Israeli soldiers take position near the border between Gaza and Israel on October 9.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his nephew killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 9.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israeli security and emergency officials respond after a rocket landed in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Ilit, in the occupied West Bank, on October 9.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on October 9.
Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP
Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9.
Ramez Mahmoud/AP
Palestinians remove a body from the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike on the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son’s funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 9.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians inspect damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp on October 9.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
An injured Palestinian child is pictured in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Israelis view a damaged residential building in Ashkelon after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on October 9.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Tali Touito reacts as she describes how Hamas gunmen attacked and took over the police station on her street, in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday, October 8.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Fire and smoke rise from Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 8.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
A relative of an Israeli missing since the attacks is overcome by emotion during a press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on October 8.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians inspect a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 8.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona on October 8.
Oded Balilty/AP
Israelis inspect the rubble of a building in Tel Aviv on October 8, a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza on October 8.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians search the rubble of a home in Khan Younis that was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on October 8.
Ahmad Hasballah/Getty Images
Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
Rockets launched from Gaza are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system on October 8.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinian children look toward the sky at the sound of airstrikes at a United Nations-run school in Gaza on Saturday, October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
A woman runs to her family’s reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
From the window of his family’s apartment, a man surveys damage from a rocket that struck a parking lot in Ashkelon on October 7.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians gather around an Israeli army vehicle that Palestinian militants drove from Israel into Gaza on October 7.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
Palestinians break into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, after gunmen infiltrated parts of southern Israel on October 7.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon on October 7.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli police take cover in Ashkelon as sirens wail while rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel on October 7.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke rises over Gaza during Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
Baz Ratner/AP
An Israeli woman reacts over the body of her relative who was killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 7.
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Children are seen in a damaged house in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
Vehicles in Ashkelon burn as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A man in Ashkelon runs after rockets were launched from Gaza on October 7.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Israelis donate blood in Jerusalem on October 7.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinians inspect a destroyed building as emergency responders try to contain fires after Israeli jets bombed Gaza on October 7.
Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Outside of a hospital in Gaza, men sit next to the covered body of a Palestinian militant killed during Saturday’s clashes.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Relatives of Palestinians killed on Saturday, October 7, mourn at the morgue of a hospital in Gaza.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP licensed
An Israeli soldier stands by the bodies of Israelis killed by Palestinian militants in Sderot on October 7.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A woman stands in a room damaged by rockets in Ashkelon on October 7.
Itai Ron/Reuters
A building in Tel Aviv is ablaze Saturday, October 7, following rocket attacks from Gaza.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Smoke rises as the clashes between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces continue on the streets of Beit Hanun in Gaza on October 7.
Hadas Parush/Reuters
People take cover in a bomb shelter in Rishon Lezion, Israel, as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza on October 7.
Abed Khaled/AP
Smoke and explosions are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the enclave on Saturday, October 28.
Abed Khaled/AP
Smoke and explosions are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the enclave on Saturday, October 28.
Prior to the expanded ground campaign, diplomatic sources familiar with the Qatar-led negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas told CNN that there has been “significant progress” in the talks but issues still remained.
Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel, the US and Hamas to release the hostages held by the militant group. Four hostages have been freed so far.
The White House said on Friday it was having “active conversations” with Israel about a humanitarian pause to help get hostages out of Gaza.
This story is developing and will be updated.
