Watch a live view over the Israel-Gaza border on Friday 3 November as fighting intensifies.
Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City from several directions, after weeks of airstrikes followed by a ground invasion.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, said his forces were closing in on Gaza and “fighting in a built-up, dense, complex area.”
On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets with a message warning “time is up” telling residents to immediately evacuate Shati refugee camp, a densely built-up district on the Mediterranean coast bordering Gaza City’s centre.
Responding to the intense fighting, Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said that some of Israel’s recent actions in Gaza were “something more approaching revenge”.
The Taoiseach reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, and to “go after Hamas”, but said what he is “seeing unfolding at the moment isn’t just self-defence”.
He said that he did not believe that Israel would guarantee its security through these actions.
