Reports of a gate opening caused foreign nationals and paramedics to gather at the border

First Days of Israel’s Expanded Ground Operations in the Gaza Strip Revealed by an Airstrike on Tuesday, Oct. 7

Videos verified by The New York Times captured the aftermath of an airstrike on Wednesday in the Falluja neighborhood of Jabaliya approximately half a mile from the site of Tuesday’s strike. Several large buildings are completely flattened in the destruction shown. Rescue workers and residents can be seen digging through the rubble and carrying what appear to be injured and dead people, including children.

The airstrike came after that. The Israeli military said that it had killed a Hamas leader who was involved in the attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

Ms. Hammad’s last WhatsApp messages to her cousin Ahmed, 31, who had told her he was hosting dozens of people in a four-bedroom apartment, went unread.

Sousan Hammad, 38, a writer and teacher in Brooklyn, said she had been frantically trying to reach family members in Jabaliya. Her father had grown up in Gaza, and in recent days she had been able to stay in contact with his side of the family, relaying their messages to relatives in the United States.

The anguish of living through deprivation and death is compounded by the continuing communications failures, Mr. Hammash said.

The airstrike on the neighborhood hit by the Norwegian Refugee Council has gotten more crazy every day, said the employee who was born there.

Palestinians trying to reach family members in the Gaza Strip for the first time since an Israeli airstrike there were met largely with silence.

The announcement followed a 34-hour communications blackout in Gaza over the weekend that coincided with the start of Israel’s “expanded” ground operations.

Gaza’s internet and phone service was down for a second day as activity took place at the border. The Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel attributed the outage to “international routes that were previously reconnected being disconnected again.”

59 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, the largest number of aid trucks in a single day. Israel is blocking the delivery of fuel. Dozens of additional trucks were expected to enter Gaza Wednesday.

With all of Israel’s borders with Gaza closed since Oct. 7, the day the militant group Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israeli towns, the only operational crossing into Gaza is Rafah, along the territory’s southern border with Egypt. Even that border has largely been closed; only aid trucks have been allowed through.

Foreign nationals gathered at the Egyptian side of the border in Tel Aviv for the first time since fighting broke out between Hamas and Israel.

At the side of the crossing, ambulances were waiting to evacuate critically injured people from the besieged territory, where Israeli bombardments have killed thousands.

A new list of passport holders approved to depart — all of them foreign citizens or dual national Palestinians — was issued by the border authority overnight. Around 400 Americans were included. It was unclear how many would be able to cross Thursday.

Around 400 Americans have expressed a desire to leave and have been in contact with the State Department. With their family members, the total number is around 1,000, Miller said.

“We need a pause” from the White House: a counterexample to Israel’s campaign against a cease-fire

Israel’s ground campaign inside Gaza has intensified as its airstrikes are still ongoing. Israel’s Defence Forces reported multiple clashes between its soldiers and Hamas fighters as they entered Gaza.

Calls for a cease-fire have grown from human rights groups, international leaders and left-leaning members of the Democratic party. The White House, once steadfast in its support of Israel’s opposition to a cease-fire, has shown support in recent days for what officials have called a “humanitarian pause.”

“I think we need a pause,” he said, speaking to a crowd of supporters after giving a campaign speech. The White House later clarified that a brief cessation of military operations could give time to get the hostages out.