Israel reportedly commences ground op portion of Gaza City takeover

The IDF has launched its ground offensive to take over Gaza City, the Axios news site reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.

The IDF has been gradually expanding airstrikes in and around the city in recent days, but had not dispatched ground troops into the densely populated northern city where roughly hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to be sheltering.

The IDF says some 300,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City in recent weeks after its population had ballooned to roughly one million displaced people earlier this year. The army has been urging everyone in Gaza City to evacuate with limited success, as many fear that other areas in the Strip are no safer.

Airstrikes in Gaza City intensified on Monday evening local time before Palestinian media began reporting that IDF tanks had entered the city.