A large explosion was heard in Gaza as Israel Defence Forces (IDF) late Friday said that its ground forces are “expanding operations tonight”. This, according to some reports, is the most intense bombardment launched by Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack.

As IDF intensified it’s attack in Gaza, it’s spokesperson Daniel Hagari asked residents of Gaza City to move south and announced expansion of Israel’s military operation.

Hagari said that Israeli air force has increased its attacks in Gaza and significantly targetted underground terrorist infrastructure.

“In recent hours we have increased the attacks in Gaza. The air force widely attacks underground targets and terrorist infrastructure, very significantly,” the Israeli military spokesperson said.

“In continuation of the offensive activity we carried out in the last few days, the ground forces are expanding the ground activity this evening,” he said, hinting towards the launch of full-scale ground offensive.

Hagari further added that the Israel Defense Forces are “working powerfully in all dimensions” to achieve their military goals.

Earlier, live tv footage showed rockets flying towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. An huge explosion was also seen in the central Gaza at the same time.

Meanwhile, Israeli military has once again claimed that Hamas is operating from an underground facility beneath the al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest medical facility where tens of hundreds of displaced people are believed to be sheltering from Israeli air strikes.

The similar claim was made by the IDF in a separate briefing a short while ago. During the briefing, Hagari said that Israel has credible intelligence that there are tunnels outside the al-Shifa hospital which are being used by Hamas officials to reach its underground base.

The Israeli military also claimed that a command centre is inside the Shifa hospital and one of the wards has the entrance to the reach the main operations base beneath the hospital.

Over the last few days, Israeli military has been carrying out targetted overnight ground raids in Gaza. The Israeli army said these raids were carried out to prepare the border area for the next stage of the war.