The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Tuesday that it had begun fighting in the central Gaza Strip, one of the last major Hamas strongholds, and the source of much of the remaining rocket fire that terrorists have managed to launch from at Israeli civilians.

In the first stage of the ground invasion, which began in late October, the IDF focused on the northern Gaza Strip, and urged Palestinian civilians to move south of the Wadi Gaza river, south of Gaza City. After Hamas broke a week-long truce on December 1, the IDF moved into southern Gaza — much to the apparent surprise of Hamas, since the U.S. had publicly urged Israel not to do so. At that point, as Breitbart News noted, Israel began dividing the Gaza Strip into three parts — northern, southern, and central.

Fighting remains intense in the south, particularly in the city of Khan Yunis. But according to social media reports, the IDF has begun carving out roads from southern into central Gaza, and Israeli officials announced they were targeting the central area.