The Israeli military escalated its campaign against the Hamas militant group in Gaza late Thursday as artillery, tanks, and warplanes combined in a withering assault on the Palestinian enclave, and the Israeli military readied at least three brigades of troops for action, raising the prospect of a ground invasion.

Just after midnight, the Israeli military announced that air and ground forces were attacking in the Gaza Strip, but the extent of the operation remained unclear. A military spokesperson initially said, "There are ground troops in Gaza.” But another spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces later issued a “clarification,” saying, “There are currently no IDF ground troops inside the Gaza Strip.”

Residents of Gaza City said intense, almost continuous airstrikes began to pound the northern Gaza Strip around midnight in the most intense attacks over four nights of aerial bombardments and lasted for about half an hour.