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Israeli forces pounded Hamas symbols of control and the Gaza Strip’s only power plant Tuesday in their heaviest bombardment of a 3-week offensive in Gaza, defying international demands for an immediate cease-fire after Hamas militants broke a Muslim holiday lull.

The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said the assault on Gaza’s Hamas rulers, which has cost more than 1,100 lives, was being “intensified.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis late Monday to brace for a long fight.

In a televised address, Mr. Netanyahu had given no sign that the military would go beyond its stated goals-degrading Hamas’s rocket arsenal and finding and destroying a network of cross-border tunnels that fighters use to infiltrate Israel. The military needs about another week to accomplish that, officials said.

But the overnight strikes by Israeli aircraft, tanks and navy gunboats on dozens of targets pointed to a wider campaign.

They damaged the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, along with government offices and the headquarters of the Hamas broadcast outlets, Al-Aqsa TV and Al-Aqsa Radio. The Israeli military said it hit the broadcast center to silence Hamas propaganda and messages to its operatives. The TV station continued to broadcast but the radio went silent.

The bombardment hit 70 targets, the military said, including two used as Hamas command centers, four weapons storage sites hidden within mosques, a tunnel, and a Finance Ministry building. Israeli aircraft hit 10 Hamas operatives in targeted strikes, the military said.

Another strike engulfed Gaza’s power plant in flames, forcing it to shut down, said Fathi El Sheikh Khalil, manager of the territory’s power authority.

The main source of Gaza’s electricity is Israel, but many of those power lines have been destroyed by the fighting. The damage to the Gaza plant could leave much of Gaza without electricity.

The Israeli military had no immediate explanation for the attack.