In pressing forward with its assault on the territory, Israel hopes to squeeze Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages. But other objectives have emerged.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military is “switching gears” in Gaza, dividing and seizing more parts of the strip, a move experts say could mean Israel establishing deeper, more long-term control over the territory.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is over as Israeli fighter jets began striking the Gaza Strip after Hamas refused repeated hostage deal offers, officials said.

Israel plans to establish another security corridor that divides the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. "We are conquering the Morag corridor," he said in a video address.

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas,” the defense minister said, while officials at hospitals inside the Palestinian territory said that Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people,

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of military operations in Hamas-run Gaza, saying the army would seize "large areas" of the Palestinian territory.

Hamas decided not to respond or engage with Israel's counter-proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, an official told Reuters on Wednesday, affirming it is committed to the mediators' plan instead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the military was "dissecting" the Gaza Strip and seizing territory to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages still held in the territory.

The defence minister said large areas of the territory would be seized