By James MackenzieJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hamas said on Saturday its militants in Gaza were ready to confront Israeli attacks with "full force" after Israel's military widened its air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave. The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza said earlier its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel after Israel reported intensified attacks in Gaza. Israeli ground forces had massed outside Gaza, where Israel has been conducting an intense campaign of aerial bombardment since a deadly Oct. 7 attack by hundreds of Hamas gunmen on Israeli communities near the strip. Israel's military accused Hamas on Friday of using the hospital as a shield for its tunnels and operational centres, an allegation the group denied. Palestinians said they received renewed Israeli military warnings to move from Gaza's north to the south to avoid the deadliest theatre of the war.

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Persons: James Mackenzie JERUSALEM, Daniel Hagari, Netanyahu, Jazeera, John Kirby, Kirby, Catherine Russell, Mark Regev, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, James Mackenzie, Nidal, Michelle Nichols, David Brunnstrom, Grant McCool Organizations: Palestinian, Reuters, UN, United Nations General Assembly, Israel, White House, Washington, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Red Crescent Society, Hamas, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Children's Fund UNICEF, MSNBC, Fox News, U.S Locations: Gaza, Israel, Gaza's, Beit Hanoun, Al, Al Shifa, Gaza City, United States, U.S, Iran, Palestinian, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt