Tel Aviv, 28 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Israeli infantry and armoured vehicles pressed further into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, backed by massive air and artillery strikes, as a military spokesman announced that Israel was expanding its ground operations in the Palestinian territory.

Israel said that numerous fighters from Hamas and other militant groups were killed overnight, as Israel warplanes, missiles and artillery struck about 150 targets in Gaza, which has been effectively sealed off from the outside world.

Among the dead, according to the Israeli military, was the head of air operations for Hamas, Asem Abu Rakaba. Israel described him as one of the planners of the attacks on Israeli communities on October 7.

The brutal Hamas attacks killed more than 1,400 people, the majority civilians.

Asem Abu Rakaba "directed the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF [Israel Defense Forces] posts," the military wrote on Telegram.

Other targets included tunnels, underground rooms and other infrastructure that the Israeli military said were used by Hamas.

The al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas movement, said there were clashes in the city of Beit Hanoun in the north-east and at the Bureij refugee camp in the centre of the narrow strip.

It was not possible to independently verify the information. A communication blackout and no internet since Friday evening has made information scarce on the progress of the Israeli ground operation.

Even as the Israeli offensive expanded, militants continued to launch rockets from Gaza toward Israeli towns. On Saturday, warning sirens sounded several times in the communities near the border with the coastal strip, according to the Israeli army.

Concerns over the fate of at least 229 people believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza grew amid the intensifying Israeli assault. 

The Israeli news site ynet reported that relatives of the hostages called for an urgent meeting with the Israeli government after the military expanded ground operations in Gaza.

"This night has been the worst of all so far and we have spent it in great fear," ynet quoted from a statement by some of the relatives. There is great uncertainty regarding the fate of the hostages in Gaza, "who are being held there and are also subjected to the heavy bombardment."

Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of a female hostage, told Israeli Army Radio on Saturday: "I don't know anything about strategy, but I know something about motherhood - and I feel that this is a war we have already lost. How can you make sure that my daughter and the other hostages really come home alive?"

The Israeli government has called for civilians in Gaza to flee south from the densely populated northern part of the territory. Israeli attacks have been particularly intense in the north, although areas in southern Gaza have also been hit with Israeli strikes.

On Saturday, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said that humanitarian aid deliveries might be allowed into southern Gaza to provide basic supplies to those who followed Israeli demands to move south.

Israel has held Gaza under a near-complete blockade for several weeks, since the Hamas attacks.

The blockade meant largely cutting off supplies of drinking water, food, electricity and fuel, apart from several dozen trucks of international aid that have been allowed in via Gaza's border crossing with Egypt.

According to Israeli military figures, at least 700,000 people have already moved south within Gaza. The United Nations believes as many as 1.4 million Gazans are internally displaced.

In total, more than 2.2 million people live in the densely populated area.

Israel says its attacks are targeting Hamas and its infrastructure. The UN has warned that the blockade and attacks could amount to collective punishment, which is illegal under international law.

Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, puts the Palestinian death toll at over 7,300 people since the start of the war.

Israel's blockade and attacks on Gaza have drawn criticism from some international leaders, especially in Muslim-majority countries. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - who earlier this week called Hamas "freedom fighters" - demanded that Israel halt strikes on Gaza.

He accused Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Palestinian territory of "targeting women, children and innocent civilians."

Erdoğan plans to hold a large pro-Palestine rally on Saturday in Istanbul against what he called "Israeli atrocities."

Photo: MIA archive