Israel has intensified its offensive against Hamas militants and began its ground operation in Gaza strip late Thursday shortly after the agreed five-hour ceasefire ended.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the mission, which is still part of the "Operation Protective Edge," aims to target "terror tunnels" in the Israel-Gaza border that are being used by militants to carry out attacks.

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In a statement, The IDF said its ground invasion has a large force consisting of infantry, tanks, artillery, combat engineers, and field intelligence. It will be supported by its naval and aerial attacks that have killed over 230 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Israel said it decided to carry out a ground offensive following the "repeated rejections" of the Hamas militants to deescalate the situation, with over 1, 500 rockets launched by Hamas into Israel on the tenth day of the war, but caused no major damages.

"Their mission is to target Hamas' tunnels that cross under the Israel-Gaza border and enable terrorists to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks," IDF said.

IDF has called up additional 18,000 reservists to join the attacks following the approval of the Israeli government late Thursday and started to mobilize the troops early Friday, local time.

Heavy shelling, aerial and naval fire were reported along the Gaza border on Friday, Reuters detailed, which is expected to result in heavy casualties on the part of Hamas Islamists militants.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum condemned the military offensives, saying the invasion would result in dangerous consequences. "Israel will pay a heavy price for it," he told CNN.

He said the militants are ready to confront the Israel, equipped with guns and artillery and said to be operating underground the border.

Before the offensive, IDF has dropped leaflets in several areas of Gaza and urged residents to vacate their homes temporarily to ensure their safety. IDF asked residents to head towards Gaza City through-Toam, Al-Falugah, Al-Audah, Al-Sacha, and Salah A-Din.

The order came hours after Israel and the Hamas agreed to halt its operation to give way to humanitarian aid as requested by the United Nations, the first recorded ceasefire observed by the two sides.

As of Friday, there is still no concrete plan on how to end the week-long war that have resulted in the death of at least 233 people, and one Israeli civilian. While Western countries and allies have called the two sides to stop the attacks, no major talks were successfully carried out.

TagsIsrael, Hamas, ground invasion, Israel-Hamas relationship, Gaza Strip