Some Israeli officials believe the military assault on Gaza City will deliver a decisive blow to the group, which continues to stage ambushes and guerrilla attacks.

An estimated 1 million Palestinians were living in the Gaza City region before warnings to evacuate began ahead of the offensive. The Israeli military estimates 350,000 people have left the city. The U.N. estimates that more than 238,000 Palestinians have fled northern Gaza over the past month. Hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

Israel Ground Offensive in Gaza City News, Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: The 14 other council members voted in favour of the draft, which described the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic."

Hamas issued its strongest messaging about the Israeli hostages in Gaza Thursday night, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza City ground incursion means that Israel has lost any chance of getting its hostages out of the territory – dead or alive.

Hamas has published a propaganda image of the 48 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, naming each of them after Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force nav.