The Israeli military said on Sunday it would continue to allow Gazans to evacuate south ahead of an expected ground assault by its forces on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for unprecedented attacks by Hamas militants eight days ago.

The army said hundreds of thousands had already moved south as Israel carried out the most intense bombardment the enclave has ever seen in response to the killing of 1,300 people in Israel, including 279 Israeli soldiers.

Authorities in Gaza said more than 2,300 people had been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded so far. The enclave’s hospitals are running short of medical supplies and struggling to cope with the flow of injured.