Photos: Israel expands ground assault into Gaza amid escalating airstrikes

A Palestinian man covered with dust carries an injured baby girl into the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Hamas militants. Israel has now launched what it is calling the second phase of its assault to destroy Hamas in Gaza, a conflict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as his country’s “second war for independence.” Israeli troops are inside the Gaza perimeter — probing, destroying tunnels and learning in close-quarter combat about the Palestinian fighters who shocked the world when they attacked Israel on October 7.

A Palestinian man carries his injured daughter at the Najjar hospital following an Israeli air strike on a home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 30, 2023. The United Nations said the ground operations were accompanied by the “most intense Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling” since the start of the war more than three weeks ago.

Palestinians survey the destruction following an Israeli military raid on the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank on October 30, 2023.

A Palestinian boy on his bicycle looks at destroyed buildings following the Israeli bombardment of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

This image taken from the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows black smoke ascending from the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas militants.

Palestinians leave their homes following Israeli bombardment on Gaza City.

An injured boy sits as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes, take shelter at a tent camp at a United Nations-run centre, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Injured Palestinian Baraa al-Saffen, poses for a photograph as he stand along a street in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

A man carries a container as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes, take shelter at a tent camp at a United Nations-run centre, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

An injured Palestinian is assisted at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian woman is assisted at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah.

Palestinians looks for victims from under a collapsed home following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.