Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in Gaza in what is seen as the most intense offensive since the war broke out on October 7. 

The Jewish state, which has been mobilizing tens of thousands of regular and reserve troops near the Gaza border, on Friday evening intensified aerial bombardment in the northern part of the enclave.

Spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, earlier said that ground forces will expand their activity tonight and the Air Force is heavily striking underground targets. He said the IDF will continue to strike Gaza City and surrounding areas in northern Gaza and renewed the call for Palestinians to evacuate to the south.

CNN, Fox News and BBC, citing their own correspondents and local residents, reported unusually intense and sustained aerial strikes, shelling and tank fire, targeting key Hamas facilities including underground tunnels. 

Following two days of surprise nighttime air raids, Israel appears to be taking steps to launch an all-out ground incursion. 

Israel also revealed photos of a tunnel located just next to Shifa Hospital, the largest clinic in Gaza, claiming that a Hamas command center is situated underground and the militants were accessing the hospital's fuel storage tank and using patients and medical staff as human shields. 
 
The stepped-up offensive has caused Internet and communication to be cut off in the whole of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile Hamas appealed to the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel's bombing. In a statement, the group said that all telecommunications and Internet have been severed and Israeli strikes are literally destroying Gaza from air, land and sea.

Some pundits believe the escalation is in retaliation for an earlier rocket attack of Tel Aviv by Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades which caused many casualties.

Human rights groups have condemned the communication blackout citing fears that brutalities can be concealed while the Committee to Protect Journalists has also called for connection to resume. 
 
The combined death toll in the third week into the conflict has neared nine thousand including 73-hundred on the Palestinian side.