Israeli Troops and Hamas battle in Gaza.

In anticipation of what it called the “next stage” of its attack on the Islamist group, the Israeli military increased airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave on Sunday, sparking minor fighting between Hamas members and Israeli soldiers inside Gaza.

In an ambush outside the Gazan city of Khan Younis, Hamas said its forces had destroyed two Israeli military bulldozers and a tank, forcing Israeli troops to evacuate without their vehicles. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated an IDF tank hit militants who had opened fire on its troops, confirming that its forces had been operating inside Gaza at the time of the incident.

The incident seemed to be among the first ground battles between the two sides inside the strip since the war started following Hamas’s lethal strike on Israel on October 7, which claimed over 1,400 lives. The IDF declared on October 13 that it had conducted raids within Gaza.

The IDF has been gathering a sizable force at the border and bombarding the densely populated enclave with almost continual airstrikes for the past two weeks in preparation for a possible ground operation in Gaza. This is why there were skirmishes on Sunday.

A number of Gazan hospitals reported an overwhelming number of injuries on Sunday; one facility described the day as “bloody,” while another reduced the number of dialysis patients due to fuel and energy constraints.

According to the Gazan health ministry, since Israel started taking revenge for the Hamas attack two weeks ago, more than 4,600 people have died in Gaza.

According to sources in Gaza’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, as of Sunday morning, there have been five airstrikes. In videos, more than a dozen bodies covered in shrouds were brought to the hospital, and distraught relatives could be seen attempting to identify them.

In Gaza, it has been customary for parents to write their children’s names on their legs so that, in the event that either they or the kids are killed, identification will be possible.