Israel has released distressing new footage from October 7 showing Hamas terrorists murdering a father in front of his two children.

The harrowing video was publicised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the wife of the deceased on the same day the IDF launched the Gaza City offensive. 

And comes just days after Israel struck one of the Gaza Strip's main medical facilities killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more, local health workers said.

As part of a joint public diplomacy effort, Sabine Taasa shared the security camera footage of her husband and children coming under attack in their family home in Netiv Ha'asara, southern Israel.

The video shows Gil Taasa desperately grabbing one of his sons and running with another in their underwear to what looks like a shelter in their garden. 

Within seconds of entering the shelter, a Hamas terrorist throws a grenade at the petrified family - Gil threw himself on top of his children to protect them but was killed. 

Two terrorists then hopped over the fence wielding huge guns and forced the children to step over their dead fathers body and go back inside the house. 

Leaving a trail of blood behind them, the children appear petrified - crying out for their mother, screaming in pain.

Multiple times they call out 'daddy' in Hebrew while one child tells the other 'it's not a prank' and confirms their father is dead.

One of the children constantly cries, 'I want my mum,' and the other says he can only see out of one eye.

Meanwhile, one of the terrorists brazenly helps himself to a drink from their fridge and walks back outside. 

In what the young boys assume is the final moment before they die one says, 'I didn't want to die like that' before dropping to the ground and asking 'Why am I alive?'

Both children survived the attack, however, Shay - the younger of the two - is permanently blind in one eye as it was blown out the socket during the explosion. 

Sadly, their older brother Or, who was 17, was shot in the head six times on the same day. 

Sabine Tassa met with Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Thursday to give an update on the condition of her three surviving sons who are all deeply traumatised. 

Ms Tassa previously told AFP that Shay 'cannot sleep without me. He needs me 24/7.'

She has also expressed support for the Israeli government's stated aim to destroy Hamas.

The unseen video was released on the same day Israel began the initial stages of its offensive on Gaza City.

The IDF launched attacks on the outskirts of the region with 'great force' while thousands of Palestinians fled south.

It comes after the Israeli military declared Gaza City 'a dangerous combat zone' on Friday, as it prepared to conquer the Palestinian territory's largest city after almost two years of war.

'We are not waiting. We have begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of the attack on Gaza City, and we are currently operating with great force on the outskirts of the city,' the IDF's Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee said.

'We will intensify our strikes and will not hesitate until we bring back all the hostages and dismantle Hamas militarily and politically,' he wrote on X.

'Starting today (Friday), at 10:00 (07:00 GMT), the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone,' the military said in a statement, referring the daily pauses in certain areas aimed at facilitating aid distribution.

On Wednesday, the IDF released a warning to the city's residents to evacuate before Israel's planned operation to take full control.

But Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that upon closer inspection of the map, several of these areas have been designated by the military as places where Gazans 'would be in danger'.

Tens of thousands of furious Israelis have been taking to the streets to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand his military operation in Gaza.

Demonstrators blocked major highways, set fire to roads, and protested outside ministers' homes in a national day of action on Tuesday - urging the government to stop the war and reach a deal for the release of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas.

Leading humanitarian groups have warned that the IDF's plan to takeover Gaza City would prove catastrophic to the civilian population.

Repeating his call for an immediate ceasefire, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of 'the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause'.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross called the expanded offensive aimed at targetting the remaining Hamas strongholds 'intolerable'.

'The intensification of hostilities in Gaza means more killing, more displacement, more destruction and more panic,' Christian Cardon, the chief spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said.

'Gaza is a closed space from which nobody can escape... and where access to healthcare, food and safe water is dwindling. Meanwhile, the security of humanitarians is getting worse by the hour.'