Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military is “switching gears” in Gaza, dividing and seizing more parts of the strip, a move experts say could mean Israel establishing deeper, more long-term control over the territory.

The announcement came after Netanyahu’s defense minister said that Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones.

Israel is “carving up” the Gaza Strip in a bid to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages and will establish a new corridor, parallel to the Egyptian border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said with the army escalating ground operations in the south.

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.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had seized a corridor of land that would split one of Gaza’s largest cities from the rest of the enclave.

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.

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

Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by a large-scale evacuation of the population.

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.

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed at least 27 Palestinians sheltering at a school in northern Gaza and wounded 70 more, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi, as Israeli forces have expanded their strikes and evacuation orders across the war-torn territory in recent days.

Overnight strikes by Israel killed at least 55 people across the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Thursday, a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the Palestinian territory.

Israel's defense minister said expanding operations will "crush and clean the area" of militants, despite children making up many of the strikes' victims.

At least 19 people are reported killed in Jabalia as Israel's PM says it is expanding ground operations to pressure Hamas.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports about the deaths at a school-turned-shelter, which came as Israel was intensifying its offensive in Gaza to pressure Hamas to release hostages.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City.