The United Nations says Israel has made 65 percent of the Gaza Strip off-limits to Palestinians, as Israeli forces ramp up attacks in the enclave.

In pressing forward with its assault on the territory, Israel hopes to squeeze Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages. But other objectives have emerged.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of the military’s operation in Gaza involving the seizure of large areas of land that would be “incorporated into Israel’s security zones.

Hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter on Thursday in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah, part of a newly announced "security zone" they intend to seize.

As Israel orders wide new evacuations across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians say they are crushed by exhaustion and hopelessness at the prospect of fleeing once again.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the pressure on Gaza would increase until the remaining hostages were returned to Israel. “The more they do not give (back the hostages), the more the pressure will increase until they do,” vowed the Israeli Prime Minster in a video statement released on Wednesday.

Palestinians displaced from Rafah on Thursday voiced their despair over Israel's announcement that it would cut the city off from the rest of the Strip, by establishing a new security corridor to pressure Hamas.

Hours after the Israeli prime minister arrived in Budapest, the Hungarian government announced its decision to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). View on euronews

The Israeli military announced the launch of a new ground offensive in Gaza City on Friday to expand the security zone it has established in the Palestinian territory.Israel has pushed since the collapse of a short-lived truce in the war with Hamas to seize territory in Gaza in what it has called a strategy to force the militants to free hostages still in captivity.