Israeli soldiers work to secure residential areas following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel said its forces attacked Hamas terrorists inside the Islamist group’s vast tunnel network beneath Gaza, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire to fighting.

The tunnels are a key objective for Israel as it expands ground operations inside Gaza to wipe out the ruling Palestinian terror group Hamas following its surprise invasion three weeks ago that Israeli authorities say killed more than 1,400 people.

“Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] said in a statement.

Terrorists responded with anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire, it added.

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the IDF said.

Israeli armed forces also bombed Gaza overnight in air, sea, and ground attacks, targeting northwestern areas of the Palestinian enclave where Israeli troops were operating on the ground, witnesses said on Tuesday.

The United States and Arab countries have urged Israel to delay any ground operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties and might ignite a wider conflict.

Air raid sirens went off in the area of the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat on Tuesday and Israel‘s military said it downed an approaching “aerial target.”

“There was no threat or risk to civilians,” it added.

Witnesses said Israeli forces targeted Gaza’s main north-south road on Monday and attacked Gaza City from two directions. Israel said its troops freed a soldier from Hamas captivity.

Hamas has so far released four civilians from the 240 hostages Israel says were captured in the Oct. 7 attacks. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.

Hamas’ armed al-Qassam Brigades said fighters clashed early on Tuesday with Israeli forces “invading the southern Gaza axis,” adding that four vehicles were targeted with al-Yassin 105 missiles, referring to locally produced anti-tank missiles.

The terrorists also targeted two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in northwest Gaza, al-Qassam said.

Reuters was unable to confirm the reports of fighting. Israel‘s military had no immediate comment.

Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authorities say that thousands of people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7. The Palestinian terrorist group has notoriously used civilians as human shields in conflict with Israel, blocking them from evacuating and placing weapons and other military targets by civilian sites.

The mounting death toll has drawn calls from the US, Israel‘s top ally, other countries, and the UN for a pause in fighting to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the enclave.

Netanyahu said late on Monday that Israel would not agree to a cessation of hostilities and would press ahead with its plans to incapacitate Hamas.

“Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks.

Israel‘s military said it struck more than 600 terrorist targets in recent days in Gaza, where civilians are in dire need of fuel, food, and clean water.

Significantly fewer humanitarian aid trucks than needed have reached the besieged enclave, UN officials said, and civil order has broken down with people storming UN warehouses in search of food.

That has put four UN aid distribution centers and a storage facility out of action, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday.

Aid trucks have been trickling into Gaza from Egypt over the past week via Rafah, the main crossing that does not border Israel. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 26 trucks entered the Rafah crossing on Monday.

Israel reportedly agreed to allow 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily.

Hamas released a video on Monday that showed three hostages seized by the terrorist group on Oct. 7.

The women — identified by Netanyahu as Yelena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni, and Rimon Kirsht — sat side by side against a bare wall, and Aloni addressed an angry message to the prime minister.

Netanyahu condemned the video as “cruel psychological propaganda” and said Israel‘s ground campaign created possibilities for rescuing the hostages.

Hamas’ terror onslaught against Israel on Oct. 7 was the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.