Tel Aviv, 22 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli military said on Sunday it struck a Hamas cell sheltering in a mosque in the occupied West Bank as it also warned it would step up its bombardment of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the the al-Ansar mosque, located in the Jenin refugee camp, was being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. The IDF described the site as a "terrorist compound" that was being used to plot attacks.

Jenin is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians, with the Israeli army frequently carrying out deadly raids there.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said two Palestinians were killed in the Israeli operation.

Three other Palestinians were killed in confrontations in the Nablus and Jenin areas on Sunday, according to the ministry.

The security situation in the West Bank has been tense for months and has only increased since October 7, when Hamas militants in Gaza breached border defences and rampaged across southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and kidnapping at least 210 others.

Support for Hamas remains strong among the Palestinian population of the West Bank. There are fears the daily eruptions of violence between Palestinians, Israeli settlers and the Israeli military could spiral into another front of the war between Hamas and Israel.

According to the Ministry of Health, 90 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in the last two weeks. Since the beginning of the year, 286 Palestinians have died.

Meanwhile, rocket attacks against Israel by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip continue despite fierce Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian territory.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry is Gaza said more than 4,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since October 7.

The figures cannot be independently verified.

Rocket warnings were issued for the greater Tel Aviv area on Sunday morning. The main rescue service said there were no reports of casualties.

Since the beginning of the war a fortnight ago, some 7,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army. More than 550 have hit the Palestinian territory itself, causing casualties.

A military spokesman said that Israel will step up airstrikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion.

"We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions," Israeli media quoted IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying on Saturday evening.

In Egypt, the Rafah border crossing was expected to reopen on Sunday for the passage of more trucks carrying food and medicine into Gaza after 20 entered on Saturday for the first time since the war erupted.

Israel has imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off the densely populated Mediterranean coastal strip from food, fuel, medicines, water and other essential supplies, leading to fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. All of Israel's crossings with Gaza have been closed.