TEL AVIV — Israeli troops deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza, the military announced Saturday, as pressure on the Hamas militant group increased weeks into the renewed war.

Israeli troops moved into an area of northern Gaza to expand what they call a security zone around the edge of the enclave, the military said on Friday, days after the government announced plans to seize large areas with an operation in the south.

Israel’s military “will seize large areas” of the Gaza Strip to expand its security zones, its defense minister said as he called for a large-scale evacuation of the Palestinian enclave's population.