Israeli soldiers make preparations in front of Merkava tanks as they man a position at an undisclosed location on the border with Lebanon on October 22, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM / CAIRO - Israel was stepping up its attacks on the Gaza Strip ahead of an anticipated ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave, said the Israeli military on Sunday, amid escalating tensions also on the country's northern front and in the occupied West Bank.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was "intensifying air strikes on the Gaza Strip," adding that "dozens" of Hamas militants were killed overnight, including Muhamad Qatmash, who was identified as the deputy head of Hamas' artillery array in Gaza.

Hagari also updated the number of known hostages being held in the Gaza Strip to 212. In addition, the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, as it entered the 16th day, has led to more than 6,000 deaths on both sides.

More Israeli soldiers were kitted out in full combat gear along the security fence with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground offensive against the Palestinian enclave

The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 4,651, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Sunday. It added that 14,245 Palestinians were wounded in the coastal enclave.

More Israeli soldiers were kitted out in full combat gear along the security fence with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground offensive against the Palestinian enclave.

ALSO READ: US stance on Gaza conflict under fire, threatens regional stability

 Meanwhile, the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) continued its strikes on Israeli forces despite the odds of a broader war seeming perilously high.

In a press statement, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said its fighters carried out "a tight ambush" against Israeli troops "east of Khan Younis," a southern Gazan city, on Sunday, killing at least one Israeli soldier.

The Israeli army confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed and three others injured by an anti-tank missile launched from Gaza. The missile targeted a tank and an engineering vehicle near Kibbutz Kissufim, an Israeli community in the vicinity of the Palestinian enclave.

It noted that the troops were ambushed while carrying out an operation as "part of the effort to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, clear the area, and locate missing persons and bodies."

Also on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while visiting troops near the border with Lebanon, warned Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese armed group and political party, against opening a second war front with Israel.

Rescuers search for victims or survivors in a car covered by the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023 amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group. (PHOTO / AFP)

"If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will be making the mistake of its life. We will strike it with a force that it cannot even imagine, that will be destructive for the Lebanese state," he cautioned.

In an interview with the local MTV channel on Sunday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib reaffirmed that Hezbollah will not intervene in the Israel-Hamas conflict unless Israel launches a large-scale invasion of Gaza or a heavy attack on Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said in a statement that it carried out four rounds of attacks, including two drone attacks, targeting Hezbollah posts after anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel.

ALSO READ: UN: Over 60% of Gaza residents displaced due to Israel's attacks

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, at least 11 Hezbollah militants were killed by Israeli fire since Saturday night.

‘Powder keg’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday warned that the region had turned into a "powder keg" and any miscalculation by Israel and its supporters could lead to "heavy and bitter" consequences for them.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor following their meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran earlier in the day, during which they discussed bilateral ties and regional issues, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.

Amir-Abdollahian criticized US President Joe Biden's recent visit to Israel and his announcement to supply a large number of weapons to Israel.

As cross-border fighting between Israel and militants in southern Lebanon intensified, Israel on Sunday announced plans to evacuate 14 more communities near the northern border.

Evacuations

The communities are primarily consisting of cooperative farms and kibbutzim (villages), the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that regional municipalities have been informed and instructed to prepare for the evacuation.

On Friday, the Defense Ministry told residents of Kiryat Shmona, a northern Israeli city with a population of about 22,000 people close to the Lebanese border, to evacuate.

A young girl looks through a bus window as her family departs the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, Israel,  Oct 20, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

In the occupied West Bank, Israel carried out earlier in the day a rare air strike on Al-Ansar mosque, which the IDF claimed to be a hideout of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members.

The strike killed two militants and raised the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank to 93 since Oct 7, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

The airstrike targeted "an underground compound" in the mosque, located in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, according to a joint statement released by Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency and army. They claimed that Hamas and PIJ operatives were "organizing an imminent terror attack" there.

READ MORE: Trucks of aid enter Gaza through Rafah border crossing

In addition, at nightfall, two Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed during clashes with Israeli forces in the town of Zawata, west of the West Bank city of Nablus.

People conduct rescue work after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct 22, 2023.(PHOTO / XINHUA)

Egyptian soldiers injured

Meanwhile, a number of Egyptian soldiers were slightly injured on Sunday by fragments of an Israeli tank shell that accidentally hit an Egyptian army watchtower along the border, according to a statement from the Egyptian army.

The statement added that the incident took place amid heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group, in Gaza.

It noted that the Israeli side expressed its regret over the unintentional incident immediately after it occurred, and an investigation is underway into the incident.

Earlier, Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement that an Israeli tank "accidentally" fired and hit an Egyptian military post on Sunday, which is located near the Israel-Egypt border and southern Gaza Strip.

In the statement, the Israeli military also expressed "sorrow regarding the incident," adding that "the incident is being investigated and the details are under review."