Israeli forces attacked areas of the central and southern Gaza Strip where residents have been expecting a renewed ground offensive in areas crammed with tens of thousands of Palestinians already displaced by the Israeli-Hamas offensive, Reuters reports.

With nightfall on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on a house in the southern city of Khan Younis killed eight Palestinians, health officials said. Three Palestinians were killed and six injured in an Israeli missile strike on a house in Maghazi camp in central Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

“The task here is to dismantle Hamas — so that it no longer has military and governing capabilities,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said at a press briefing on operations in Khan Younis.

“We will be required to show a lot of perseverance and determination.”