Israel expands ground assault into Gaza as fears rise over airstrikes near crowded hospitals

Israeli troops and tanks are pushing deeper into Gaza, advancing on two sides of the territory’s main city. Meanwhile, the U.N. and medical staff warned that airstrikes have hit closer to hospitals where tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter alongside thousands of wounded. Video circulating on social media showed an Israeli tank and bulldozer in central Gaza blocking the territory’s main north-south highway. That is the road that the Israeli military earlier told Palestinians to use to escape the expanding ground offensive. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who remain in the north would no longer be able to escape if the road is blocked since it’s the only useable route south.