Satellite images show the Israeli invasion of northern Gaza

Satellite images taken Monday morning show the sheer size of one of the main Israeli advances into northern Gaza, where hundreds of armored vehicles pushed miles across the border into urban areas on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israel has not yet reached the level of the rapid and overwhelming ground attack that many analysts expected. But images taken by commercial satellite company Planet Labs on Monday morning show a large invading force: numerous groups of dozens of armored vehicles crossing open fields and congregating in urban areas.

The image provides the clearest picture yet of the extent to which one of the main lines of the Israeli invasion has moved into Gaza and the devastation it has caused. Israeli vehicles were seen south to the Karama neighborhood, north of Gaza City. Videos previously published by the Israeli army showed lines of tanks operating near the border area.

Many nearby buildings appear to have been severely damaged or completely destroyed by air strikes. Hundreds of craters caused by airstrikes and shelling can be seen, including in homes and on roads, and residential buildings have been flattened.

More than 8,000 people have been killed across Gaza, many of them children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, since Israel began launching retaliatory air strikes in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.

The area shown is one of three directions in which Israeli tanks and other vehicles moved toward Gaza City, the largest city in Gaza. Rows of armored vehicles were seen on the main road extending from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, as well as in the northeastern corner of the Strip, in the town of Beit Hanoun.

But Israeli forces backed away from direct combat in Gaza City, the largest city, choosing instead to remain on the outskirts of the city to delay more serious fighting and keep military options open.

In Karama, fields and buildings have been bulldozed over the past nine days.

The destroyed farmlands were used to assemble dozens of armored vehicles. The wide tank tracks give an idea of ​​how they moved around the area.

To the south, images show a series of destroyed buildings, along with additional craters and military vehicles.