Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across northern and southern Gaza on Friday, killing at least 108 people, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military described the bombardment as a prelude to an intensified campaign aimed at compelling Hamas to release hostages.

Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as U.S. President Donald. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought.

Israel intensified its military campaign against Hamas, despite a U.S.-backed push for the two sides to agree a new cease-fire.