Israeli forces on Wednesday stepped up bombardment of the Gaza Strip and asked civilians to leave a refugee camp in the northern Palestinian enclave after the war spread to Lebanon following the killing of a Hamas deputy leader in Beirut, Reuters said.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed Saleh al-Aruri in a drone strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday.

But army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces were on high alert and ready for any scenario.

The first high-ranking Hamas political leader killed since the start of the war

The killing was a fresh sign that the nearly three-month-old war between Israel and Hamas is spreading across the region, involving the occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border and even the Red Sea sea lanes.

Aruri, 57, who lived in Beirut, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be killed since Israel launched an offensive against the militants in response to their deadly raid on Israeli cities on October 7.

Hossam Badran, a member of the Hamas political movement, said in a eulogy for Aruri: “We say to the criminal occupier (Israel) that the battle between us is open.”

Israel has long accused him of organizing attacks on its citizens.

But a Hamas official said it was also “in the middle of talks” between Qatar and Egypt on the outcome of the Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

What will Hezbollah do after Aruri’s murder?

Hezbollah leader Syed Hassan Nasrallah was scheduled to deliver a speech in Beirut on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, he warned Israel not to carry out killings on Lebanese soil, promising a “severe response” in such a case.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has engaged in almost daily firefights with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border since the Gaza war began.

More than 100 Hezbollah fighters and two dozen civilians were killed inside Lebanon, as well as at least nine Israeli soldiers in Israel.

After Arouri’s murder, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said it was deeply concerned about the possibility of an escalation “which could have devastating consequences for people on both sides of the border”.

“You are in a dangerous war zone”

The Israeli military (IDF) said in its daily report that “intense fighting” with Hamas militants continued in Gaza on Wednesday in the southern city of Khan Younis. The IDF had earlier announced that it was trying to remove Hamas leaders from the area.

Palestinian militants and media reported that Israeli forces bombed the al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the northern part of the Hamas-run enclave overnight and on Wednesday, destroying several high-rise buildings.

Israeli planes also dropped leaflets over Al-Nuseirat, ordering people to leave the seven districts.

“You are in a dangerous war zone. The Israel Defense Forces is active in the area where you live. “For your safety, the IDF urges you to leave this area immediately and go to recognized shelters in Deir al-Balah (in the west),” the leaflets said.

Hamas: 22,313 Palestinians dead so far

Israeli warplanes and tanks have also intensified attacks on the al-Burayj refugee camp.

The armed wing of Hamas said it killed 10 Israeli soldiers during fighting in al-Burayj and destroyed five tanks and vehicles.

The Israeli military said the number of its soldiers killed since the first incursion into Gaza on October 20 has reached 177.

In Al-Maghazi refugee camp, health officials reported that at least four people were killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike on a house. They also reported that three people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Israel says it is trying to avoid harming civilians.

But the total number of reported Palestinian deaths reached 22,313 by Wednesday, including 128 in the past 24 hours, according to the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza.