The World Health Organization has sent two shipments of medical supplies to Beirut in preparation for a potential escalation of the so-far sporadic clashes on the border between armed groups in Lebanon and Israeli forces.

The U.N. agency said in a statement Monday that it “has expedited the delivery of critical medical supplies to Lebanon in order to be ready to respond to any potential health crisis.”

A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman has been charged with a hate crime. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric.

Cross-border clashes between armed factions in Lebanon and Israel intensified Sunday, with Hezbollah firing rockets and Israeli forces responding with shelling.

The Israeli army also reported a shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting has killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border.

A rocket hit the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon in the coastal town of Naqoura as clashes between Hezbollah and its allies and the Israeli military escalated Sunday.

The U.N. mission said no one was hurt even though the peacekeepers were not in shelters. It did not specify where the rocket came from but expressed disappointment saying that despite the mission's efforts to get the sides "to de-escalate the situation,” the violence continues.

Hezbollah staged an attack on Sunday morning against Israeli military posts on Lebanon's border, drawing Israeli retaliatory fire.

Hezbollah said it shelled Israeli military positions in the northern Israeli border settlement of Shtula. The group said in a statement the attack was in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday.

Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people run desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel.

Hamas claimed responsibility Sunday for two infiltrations from Lebanon to Israel that killed three of its fighters, as war rages between the Gaza-based militants and Israel.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said its members were "able... to blow up the border fence and... go forth inside occupied Palestine," clashing with "the enemy," whose planes targeted the fighters, killing three on Saturday.

A Reuters videographer killed in Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon was laid to rest in his hometown Saturday in a funeral procession attended by hundreds of people.

Draped in a Lebanese flag, Issam Abdallah’s body was carried on a stretcher through the streets of the southern town of Khiam, from his family’s home to the local cemetery.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Saturday that anti-Israel militant groups in the region are “fully ready” to respond to any move by Israel.

The minister spoke in Beirut at the end of a tour that took him to Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran enjoys wide influence and where tens of thousands of Iran-backed fighters are deployed.

A Reuters journalist of the Lebanese nationality was killed when an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday. Six other journalists were wounded.

"We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," Reuters said, adding that, he "was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon."