Israel has widened its air and ground attacks on Gaza after claiming to hit 150 "underground targets" overnight as it appeared their long-awaited ground offensive had begun on Saturday.

Hamas pledged to respond with "full force" with Israel saying its troops, sent in on Friday night, were still 'in the field.' The Palestinian militants said its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border.

Israel had earlier made only brief sorties into Gaza during three weeks of bombardment to root out Hamas militants who killed more than 1,000 Israelis on October 7.

"The forces are still in the field and continuing the war," Israel's Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday morning.

No official toll was given following the overnight strikes, but a Gaza civil defense official said a "large number" of dead was feared from one of the most intense attacks in Israel's war in response to the initial Hamas attacks earlier in October.

Israel has been building up to a ground invasion since Hamas fighters crossed the border and killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and took more than 220 hostages, according to Israel.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry says that more than 7,300 people have been killed in Gaza, including about 3,000 children. Thick smoke covered Gaza and southern Israel after the night of heavy bombardment.

More air raids and artillery shelling were reported after daybreak but less intense than during the night. A Gaza civil defense official said: "There are a large number of martyrs and a large number of survivors under the rubble, and we cannot reach them."

Residents said the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia was damaged by a tank shell and there was major damage around Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's biggest hospital where thousands of people have taken refuge.

The Israeli army has charged that Hamas fighters were using hospitals in Gaza to "wage war" against Israel. Paramedics said many people were feared dead after an apartment block and nearby houses were destroyed at dawn at the Beach camp.

Gaza blackout

Gaza was under an almost complete blackout, with internet and phone services cut for more than 12 hours. Telecoms firms and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it was the result of Israeli bombardments.

Rear Admiral Hagari said Israel would allow trucks carrying food, water and medicine to enter Gaza on Saturday, indicating that bombing might pause, at least in the area of its border with Egypt where small amounts of aid have been arriving.

The head of the World Health Organization , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the blackout was stopping ambulances reach the injured in Gaza.

"Evacuation of patients is not possible under such circumstances, nor to find safe shelter," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said also the WHO was not able to contact its staff and health facilities.

Since the October 7 attacks, Israel warned about 1.1 million people in northern Gaza that they should move to the south. The Israeli military believes the Hamas leadership and its main infrastructure is concentrated in the north.

An unnamed officer quoted by an Israeli military account on X, the former Twitter, said: "We are bombarding Gaza with an intensity that has never been seen before in the Gaza Strip. From the air, from the ground or from the underground - the IDF (Israeli army) will eliminate every senior or junior terrorist and all Hamas terrorist infrastructure."

More than eight hours of night attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory into the early hours of Saturday rattled windows and shook the ground in Ashkelon 6.5 miles from the Gaza border.  Israeli military jets continued to fly overhead Saturday and regular concussive booms could be heard coming from Gaza.

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Erdogan calls for end to 'madness'

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Israel to stop its attacks on targets in Gaza.

"The Israeli bombardments on Gaza intensified last night and once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians and worsened the ongoing humanitarian crisis," Erdogan said on X. "Israel must immediately stop this madness and end its attacks." 

Erdogan also encouraged heavy turnout for a rally in support of Palestinians in Istanbul on Saturday, organised by his Islamo-conservative AKP party, which could see around one million people attend.

"We will declare loud and clear that we stand alongside the Palestinian people against Israel's persecution," he said.

Families of Israeli hostages want explanation

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza on Saturday demanded an immediate government explanation about the fate of the captives after the army intensified strikes on the Palestinian territory.

The main group representing some 229 people believed abducted in the October 7 attacks by Hamas sought an immediate meeting with ministers.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that relatives were angry over the "absolute uncertainty regarding the fate of the hostages held (in Gaza), who were also subject to the heavy bombings". 

It added: "None of the war cabinet bothered to meet with the families to explain one thing - whether the ground operation endangers the well being of the 229 hostages in Gaza. The families are worried about the fate of their loved ones and are waiting for an explanation. Every minute feels like eternity."

The UN General Assembly on Friday called by a large majority for an "immediate humanitarian truce" in Gaza. The non-binding resolution, criticized by Israel and the U.S. for failing to mention Hamas, received 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions from UN members. Hamas welcomed the General Assembly call. Israel's ambassador to the world body, Gilad Erdan, called it an "infamy".

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