The Israeli military has said its ground forces are “expanding their activity” in the Gaza Strip tonight, as lines of communication in the enclave have gone down.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army’s spokesman, said aerial attacks had been targeting Hamas tunnels and other targets.

“In addition to the attacks that we carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their activity this evening,” he said. “The IDF is acting with great force … to achieve the objectives of the war.”

Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against the Hamas militant group.

Airstrikes have intensified since nightfall and the territory’s internet and mobile communications services collapsed on Friday evening.

The death toll in Gaza climbed to 7,650 dead and 19,450 injured since Israel‘s bombardment on the Gaza Strip began three weeks ago, according to a daily report released on Saturday from the Palestinian health ministry.

West Bank’s death toll reached 111 people dead and 1,950 others injured, the statement added, saying that women, children and the elderly represent 70% of the total deaths in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Some 177,781 residential units have also been destroyed since Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, one-third of Gaza’s hospitals and nearly two-thirds of its health care clinics remain shut down due to damage from Israeli bombardments that has also cut landlines, cellular and internet services across the strip since Friday, the statement said.

Over 200 activists staged a ‘sit-in’ in the concourse of London Waterloo railway station on Saturday afternoon, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, chanting “ceasefire now!”.

The action follows a demonstration of New York’s Grand Central station yesterday by US group Jewish Voice for Peace.

The United Nations human rights chief on Saturday warned of “possibly catastrophic consequences” of large-scale ground operations in the Gaza Strip, where thousands have already died in Israeli air strikes.

“Given the manner in which military operations have been conducted until now, in the context of the 56-year-old occupation, I am raising alarm about the possibly catastrophic consequences of large-scale ground operations in Gaza and the potential for thousands more civilians to die,” Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

“Continued violence is not the answer.”

Volker also called on the warring parties and all other states with influence in the region “to do all in their power to de-escalate this conflict”.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry released a statement on Saturday condemning any ground operations by Israeli forces that may threaten the lives of Palestinian civilians.

“The Kingdom condemns and denounces the ground operations carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, and warns of the danger of continuing to carry out these blatant and unjustified violations of international law against our brotherly Palestinians,” the statement said.

Israeli forces will continue operations begun overnight in the Gaza Strip, targeting tunnels and other infrastructure of Hamas as well as leaders of the Islamist movement, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday.

“We attacked above the ground and under ground, we attacked terror operatives of all ranks, everywhere,” he said in a video statement. “The instructions for the forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order.”

Ahead of today’s protest, police warned there was no place for hate crime and said 2,000 officers would be on duty across the city. Special restrictions were in place restricting protests around the Israeli Embassy.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged those taking part in pro-Palestinian protests to be wary of disinformation and manipulation.

When asked by a reporter if there was a risk of Iran or other foreign actors hijacking protests to stoke unrest, Cleverly said: “It is perfectly possible to support the Palestinian people but also to condemn Hamas.”

“But sadly we do see people being manipulated, subjected to disinformation, distortion and sadly, I do think that a minority, a small minority, within those protests have got very much more negative aims.”

The Israeli military has reissued a call for residents to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an impending Israeli operation.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said: “For your immediate safety, we urge all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to temporarily relocate south.”

He added: “Moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end.”

He added that Hamas was putting civilians in danger by positioning its forces in schools, mosques and hospitals.

“The impending IDF operation is set to neutralise the threat of Hamas with precision and intensity.”

He told civilians: “Your window to act is closing, move south for your own safety.

“This is not a mere precaution, this is an urgent plea for the safety of the civilians in Gaza.”

A woman has been knocked over by a police horse startled by fireworks let off at a pro-Palestinian protest.

A number of the horses bolted at the sound of the fireworks near the Houses of Parliament.

The woman was knocked to the floor and trampled on but appeared to be fine when brought back to her feet.

Red and green flares were also let off by protesters.

The Israeli military has reissued a call to Gaza residents to evacuate the north of the territory ahead of an impending Israeli operation.