New satellite images of Gaza City appear to provide the clearest evidence yet that Israel is launching its widely reported ground offensive into Gaza City.

Imagery captured on Monday morning showed a significant troops presence in the north of the strip’s largest city, next to the central Sheikh Radwan Pool area.

The satellite photo, taken just after 08:30 local time (06:30 BST), reveals about 40 armoured vehicles parked among the ruins of dozens of buildings destroyed in recent days. Smoke could also be seen rising from a building and a road nearby.

A convoy of nine vehicles could also be seen to the south of the city on Salah al Din road near the Netzarim Corridor, where there were a large number of military vehicles parked in staging areas surrounded by berms – makeshift fortifications made of sand or earth.

These vehicles were not visible at this location in other recent satellite images, though it should be noted that while this image was captured in the morning, previous images were captured in the early afternoon.

The imagery also showed a dense line of traffic running 3.3 km (2 miles) out of Gaza City along the coastal road, Al Rashid. People have been evacuating along this route for days now trying to escape Israel’s attacks.