Israeli soldiers scan an area while sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel, near Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 9, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israeli forces are expanding ground operations in Gaza while their fighter jets have struck hundreds more Hamas targets, the Israeli military said on Sunday, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the second phase of a three-week-old war.

Telephone and internet communications were partially restored in Gaza on Sunday after a more than day-long blackout that had badly impacted rescue operations as Israel struck targets of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that controls the territory.

Israel Defense Force (IDF) fighter jets struck over 450 military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including operational command centers, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts, the military said.

“We are gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the Gaza Strip,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a briefing. “We will do everything we can from the air, sea, and land to ensure the safety of our forces and achieve the goals of the war.”

With supplies of food, water, and medicines running low, thousands of Gaza residents broke into warehouses and distribution centers of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) grabbing flour and “basic survival items,” the organization said on Sunday.

Israel will allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days and Palestinian civilians should head to a “humanitarian zone” in the south of the territory, said Colonel Elad Goren of Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.

Israel has tightened its blockade and struck terrorist targets in Gaza for three weeks since Hamas staged a devastating Oct. 7 cross-border massacre, killing at least 1,400 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.

Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel‘s right to self-defense. But there have been growing international calls for a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid to reach Gaza civilians.

Hamas-controlled medical authorities in the Gaza Strip say thousands of people have been killed in Israel‘s campaign to incapacitate the Iran-backed terrorists. Hamas has notoriously used civilians as human shields in conflict against Israel, blocking them from evacuating and placing weapons and other military targets by civilian sites.

Central Israel also came under heavy rocket fire on Sunday, with sirens sounding in several major cities.

Hamas’ armed Al-Qassam Brigades said on its Telegram account that it was “bombing Tel Aviv in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.”

Netanyahu warned Israelis on Saturday to expect a “long and hard” campaign but stopped short of calling the current incursions in Gaza an invasion. Some of US President Joe Biden’s aides have advised Israeli counterparts to hold off on an immediate all-out assault, US officials say.

Netanyahu also pledged to spare no effort to free the more than 200 hostages, including foreigners, held by Hamas.

“This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear — to destroy Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home,” Netanyahu told a news conference.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and renewed his call for the release of all hostages.

The European Union appealed to all parties to allow unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.

“People in #Gaza depend on humanitarian aid only to survive the day. The depth of their desperation is beyond words,” the EU’s aid chief Janez Lenarcic said.

The conflict has prompted large demonstrations worldwide in support of the Palestinians. On Sunday supporters of Hamas in Lebanon staged a rally in Beirut to show solidarity with Gaza.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip, adding that raids conducted on Sunday had taken place just 50 meters from the facility.

An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Palestinian officials said around 50,000 people were taking shelter in the Gaza Shifa Hospital and said they were concerned about ongoing Israeli threats to the facility. The Israeli military on Friday offered a presentation showing that Hamas’ main operation center was located underneath the Shifa hospital.

“We have concrete evidence that hundreds of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide there after the massacres of Oct. 7,” said IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who added that Hamas uses the humanitarian center “to protect its terrorists and the leaders of the terrorist organization.” He also said Hamas had multiple underground complexes under Shifa that are used by Hamas to direct attacks against Israel.

Israel sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Friday night, focusing on infrastructure including the extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the Israeli military said. It provided no details on the size of the deployment.

Israel‘s chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel had been behind the telecommunications blackout but said it would do what it needed to protect its forces.