JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Friday it will intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, drawing a dismissal from the militant group and renewed international calls to end the conflict, while stirring fears for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

Hamas said that Israel's plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a "new wave of genocide and displacement" for hundreds of thousands.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said “this further escalation will result in more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction."