Israel says it has “dismantled” Hamas’s military leadership in northern Gaza as its offensive against the Palestinian group enters its fourth month, with fears mounting that the conflict could spread into neighbouring Lebanon.

According to AFP, witnesses said Israel carried out air strikes earlier today in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Younis, with the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reporting numerous dead and wounded.

Israel’s army said late Saturday it had “completed the dismantling of the Hamas military framework in the northern Gaza Strip” and its forces would now focus on central and southern areas of the territory.

The prospect of a wider regional war loomed with army spokesman Daniel Hagari warning that Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group was “dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war”.

The group fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base on Saturday in response to this week’s killing in Beirut of Hamas’s deputy leader.