Israel sent more troops into Gaza overnight, a spokesman has said, after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the “second stage” of a long war against the terror group had begun.

“Overnight we increased the entry of IDF forces into the (Gaza) Strip, and they joined the forces already fighting there,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.

He added: “We will do everything we can from the air, sea and land to ensure the safety of our forces and achieve the goals of the war.”

The army claimed that it had struck “over 450 terror targets during the past day”, hitting Hamas “command centres, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts.”

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defence Minister, said Hamas had to be forced to the negotiating table over the hostages and “the more firepower and the more we strike Hamas, the greater our chances are to bring it to a place where it will agree to a solution”.

Warning from White House

It comes as the White House issued a warning to Israel that it must do all it can to protect innocent people in Gaza by distinguishing between Hamas terrorists and the civilians in the embattled Palestinian territory.

“There is a burden, as I said before and as the president has said, on Israel to take the necessary steps to distinguish between Hamas, who does not represent the Palestinian people, and innocent Palestinian civilians,” Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, told CNN.

It comes as the UN warned that “civil order” was starting to collapse after thousands of people ransacked several of its warehouses and distribution centres in central and southern Gaza, taking wheat, flour and other basic items.

“This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege,” said Thomas White, the Gaza head of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that more than eight thousand people had been killed there since October 7.