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Israel has escalated its offensive in southern Gaza, prompting escalating clashes with Hamas militants and raising concerns for trapped civilians in the densely populated territory.

Israeli troops battled Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday after expanding their offensive deeper into the besieged territory, with warnings that an 'even more hellish scenario' was unfolding for trapped civilians.

Israel had initially focused its offensive on the north of the territory, but the army has now also dropped leaflets on parts of the south, telling Palestinian civilians there to flee to other areas.

Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and bulldozers were seen Monday near the city of Khan Yunis, which is crowded with internally displaced Palestinians, witnesses told AFP.

An AFP journalist in Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, saw smoke rising late Monday from buildings in southern Gaza after Israeli bombardment.

The army said on Monday that it was taking “aggressive” action against "Hamas and other terrorist organizations" in Khan Yunis, warning that the main road in the north and east of the city "constitutes a battlefield."

Palestinians fleeing from Khan Yunis to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 4, 2023. (Mahmud Hams, AFP)

Hamas claimed via Telegram that its militants had targeted two personnel carriers and a tank near Khan Yunis.

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Its military branch also said it had fired rockets toward Beersheba in southern Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said rocket warning sirens sounded there.

As Israel's offensive pushes deeper into Gaza, international aid organizations have warned that civilians in the densely populated territory are running out of places to flee to.

“Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and there is nowhere left to go,” said Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories. “If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond,” Hastings said in a statement.

On Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that his organization had received a notification from the military “that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours.” The Israeli Army on Tuesday denied the accusation.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group's October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities. The Health Ministry in Gaza says the war has killed nearly 15,900 people in the territory, around 70 percent of them women and children.

Miroslava Salazar, with AFP