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Israel's army said Thursday its forces have encircled Gaza City following days of expanding ground operations in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that troops had "completed the encirclement of Gaza City".
Diplomatic efforts are intensifying for at least a brief pause in the fighting in Gaza's deadliest war amid outrage over the increasing casualties.
US President Joe Biden has suggested a humanitarian "pause", without calling for a ceasefire, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected back in the region on Friday.
Arab countries, including those allied with the US and at peace with Israel, have expressed mounting unease with the war.
The opening of the Rafah border crossing , allowing hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded Palestinians to leave Gaza on Wednesday, followed weeks of talks among Egypt, Israel, the U.S. and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.
Israel has so far killed 9,061 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 3,760 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza. Israeli strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, which caused outrage around the world, have killed 195 people and injured 777.
Israel has been indiscriminately bombarding the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking around 240 hostages.
In the occupied West Bank, 132 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks.