JERUSALEM, Dec 4, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Israel pressed on with its expanded ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, following the expiry of a seven-day truce last week.

Hamas militants from Gaza launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and began an air, sea and ground offensive that has killed nearly 15,900 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

During a week-long truce, Hamas released 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Twenty-five other captives, mostly Thais, were also freed outside the scope of the deal.

The Israeli army said 137 hostages were still being held in Gaza.

On day 59 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

- Tanks in south Gaza -

Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza near the territory's second-largest city of Khan Yunis on Monday, witnesses told AFP.

Armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were also seen as Israel expanded its operations.

Gazan Amin Abu Hawli said the Israeli vehicles were "two kilometres (1.2 miles) inside" Gaza in the village of Al-Qarara near Khan Yunis.

The Israeli army said that it was taking "aggressive" action against "Hamas and other terrorist organisations" in the southern city.

- 'Intolerable suffering' -

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that she had arrived in war-torn Gaza, warning that the suffering there was "intolerable".

"I repeat our urgent call for civilians to be protected in line with the laws of war and for aid to enter unimpeded," Mirjana Spoljaric said on X, formerly Twitter.

She added that "the hostages must be released and ICRC allowed to safely visit them".

- Israel 'not trying' to permanently displace Gazans -

Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israel was "not trying to displace anyone, we are not trying to move anybody from anywhere permanently."

Many Palestinians fear a repeat of the displacement of 760,000 of their people that took place during the war that led to Israel's creation 75 years ago.

"We have provided a designated humanitarian zone inside the Gaza Strip," Conricus said, referring to a tiny coastal area named Al-Mawasi.

UN rights chief Volker Turk has voiced alarm that hundreds of thousands of Gazans were "being confined into ever smaller areas" in the south.

- Israel-Lebanon border tensions -

The Israeli military said on Sunday its air and artillery forces struck in Lebanon in response to "a number of launches" across the border.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a Hamas ally, said it had launched at least five attacks including a guided missile strike on an Israeli "military vehicle".

Official Lebanese media said "enemy artillery shelling" and heavy bombardment hit border villages, also reporting air strikes with at least one "enemy drone".

- Yemen rebels attack ships -

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Sunday said they had attacked "two Israeli ships" off the Yemeni coast, adding the vessels were targeted over the war in Gaza.

The Huthis said they attacked ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

A US defence official told AFP that Washington was "aware of reports" regarding attacks in the Red Sea, and hours earlier a maritime security group said a UK-owned ship had reportedly been hit by rocket fire.