Israeli ground forces were operating in the northern Gaza Strip Saturday, the army said, more than 24 hours after entering the Palestinian territory three weeks into war with Hamas.

“Since early Friday evening, combined combat forces of armour, combat engineers and infantry have been operating on the ground in the northern Gaza Strip,” an army statement said.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Saturday that at least 7,703 people have been killed in the war with Israel that erupted on October 7. More than 3,500 children are among the dead. The overall figure is the highest number of war fatalities in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005.

Hamas pledged to confront Israeli attacks with “full force” after Israel’s military widened its air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave, suggesting on Saturday that a long-promised ground offensive had begun.

Israel said on Saturday morning its troops, sent in on Friday night, were still in the field, without elaborating. The country had earlier made only brief sorties into Gaza during three weeks of bombardment to root out Hamas militants, who it said had killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7.

“The forces are still in the field and continuing the war,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a news briefing on Saturday morning.

Here are the latest updates

• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, together with the unconditional release of hostages & the delivery of relief at a level corresponding to the dramatic needs of the people in Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.
• Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the war had “entered a new phase” with the intense overnight bombing campaign.“Last night the ground in Gaza shook. We attacked above ground and below ground,” Gallant said in a video statement, alluding to the network of military tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza.
• Gaza was under an almost complete blackout, with internet and phone services cut for more than 12 hours by Saturday morning. Telecoms firms and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it was the result of Israeli bombardments.
• The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly called for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and demanded aid access to the besieged Gaza Strip and protection of civilians.
• The resolution drafted by Arab states is not binding but carries political weight, taking the global temperature as Israel steps up ground operations in Gaza in retaliation for the worst Hamas attack on civilians in Israel’s 75-year-old history.
• It passed to a round of applause with 120 votes in favor, while 45 abstained and 14 - including Israel and the United States - voted no. Iraq later changed its vote to yes from an abstention after complaining of a technical difficulty, so the final tally was 121 votes in favor and 44 abstentions.
• A two-thirds majority was needed for the resolution to pass, in which abstentions do not count. The General Assembly voted after the Security Council failed four times in the past two weeks to take action.
• “It sends the message to everyone enough is enough. This war has to stop, the carnage against our people has to stop and humanitarian assistance should begin to enter the Gaza Strip,” Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters.
• Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan rejected the resolution, saying the U.N. no longer holds any legitimacy or relevance and accused those who voted yes of preferring to support “the defence of Nazi terrorists” instead of Israel.
• A Canadian-led bid to amend the resolution to include rejection and condemnation of the “terrorist attacks by Hamas … and the taking of hostages” failed to get the two-thirds majority needed, garnering 88 votes in favour, 55 against and 23 abstentions.
• More than 1 million Palestinian children and their parents are living through “pure horror” in the besieged enclave, says humanitarian group Save the Children.
• International media and aid agencies say they lost contact with staff in Gaza amid a near-total communications blackout.
• Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has intensified after the military said its ground forces are “expanding operations” into the territory.
• Hamas says its fighters have confronted Israeli troops in various locations.