The Israeli military began expanding its ground offensive across the Gaza Strip as part of a new operation it dubs “Gideon’s Chariots” on Friday. Military forces predominantly consisting of non-reservist, regular units, are operating throughout Gaza’s north, center and south.

Massive air strikes, which killed hundreds of Palestinians in recent days, preceded the ground offensive. At least 146 people were killed in the past 24 hours, with 58 killed overnight into Saturday, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry reported. According to reports from the Gaza Strip, many of those killed are civilians and children.

The expansion of the ground operation appears to be timed to coincide with the end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, in which he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but not Israel. It remains unclear whether the United States and Israel coordinated the timing and whether the U.S. administration gave the green light for an operation