Israel said it was tightening the "stranglehold" around Hamas in Gaza City as the military operation on Wednesday aimed at smashing the Palestinian militants gathered pace despite ceasefire calls.
Smoke billowed above the densely-populated coastal territory as fighting raged over a month after the Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 in Israel, sparking the deadliest-ever war in Gaza.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 10,300 people, many of them children.
