Israel expands Gaza ground invasion, bombs militants in Syria, Lebanon

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The Israeli military expanded its ground invasion of Gaza overnight Sunday as its warplanes also struck military targets in Syria and Lebanon amid fears that its war against Hamas is expanding.

Though Israeli troops have made incursions into Gaza last week and engaged Hamas in skirmishes, the long-expected ground invasion appeared to have kicked off Saturday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that troops had entered the Palestinian enclave, "marking the beginning of the second stage of the war."

Overnight Sunday, Israeli troops "eliminated" dozens of Hamas fighters who had barricaded themselves in Gaza buildings, Israel Defense Forces Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

Soldiers also directed warplanes to strike a building that contained more than 20 suspected Hamas militants, he added.

In total, some 600 targets, including weapons warehouses, anti-tank positions and hiding and gathering locations of Hamas operatives, were hit over the last day, Israeli military officials said.

The ground invasion is expanding as Israel continues to engage militants over its northern border in both Syria and Lebanon.

The IDF has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah and other militants across Israel's northern borders since early in the three-week war, but the fighting has been intensifying, raising fears of an expanding war in the Middle East.

Israel said its fighter jets struck rocket launch sites in Syria early Monday and Hezbollah targets in Lebanon late Sunday.

As the United States warned against third parties attempting to take advantage of the tumult, American military personnel in the region have also come under a growing number of attacks, resulting in the death of a contractor and minor injuries suffered by 21 U.S. personnel.

In response, the U.S. military late Thursday hit Iran-linked groups in Syria it blames for the attacks.

During a tour of the Sunday news circuit, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News' Face The Nation U.S. officials are seeing "an elevated risk in the conflict spreading to other parts of the region," and that they are trying to prevent that from happening.

The three-week war began Oct. 7 with a Hamas surprise attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of some 1,400 Israelis and more than 200 others kidnapped.

Since that attack, Israel has been bombing Gaza, resulting in a Palestinian death toll that climbs daily. According to the Hamas-run Palestinian ministry of health, 8,005 Palestinians have been killed, including 3,324 children.