Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday after expanding their ground offensive to its second-largest city, further shrinking the area where Palestinians can seek safety and halting the distribution of vital aid across most of the territory.

The assault on the south threatens further mass displacement within the besieged coastal enclave, where the U.N. says some 1.87 million people — over 80% of the population — have already fled their homes.

Qatar's ruler hit out at "shameful" international inaction over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as he opened a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Doha on Tuesday.

"It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which the systematic and deliberate killing of innocent civilians continues, including women and children," Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia focused on the Israeli-Hamas war and host the Iranian president in Moscow this week, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Putin will make working visits to both countries on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Turkey’s state-run news agency said that Turkish intelligence officials have warned their Israeli counterparts of “serious consequences” if they attempt to target members of Hamas on Turkish soil.

The warning, reported by the Anadolu Agency late Monday, came after Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet, said in an audio recording that his organization is prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place,” including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

Israel intensified its bombardment in and around Gaza's second largest city early Tuesday, as ambulances and private cars came racing into a local hospital carrying people wounded in a bloody new phase of the war in Gaza.

Under U.S. pressure to prevent further mass casualties, Israel says it is being more precise as it widens its offensive into southern Gaza after obliterating much of the north. Aerial bombardment and the ground offensive have already driven three-fourths of the territory's 2.3 million people from their homes.

Israel's military pushed deeper south Tuesday in Gaza after it called for more evacuations in the southern portion of the enclave in its pursuit to wipe out the territory's Hamas rulers. The war has already killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and displaced over three-fourths of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, who are running out of safe places to go.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory since Oct. 7 has surpassed 15,890, with more than 41,000 wounded. 70% of the dead are women and children. Israel says it targets Hamas operatives and blames civilian casualties on the militants, accusing them of operating in residential neighborhoods.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has resumed after a hiatus prompted by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the war it set off.

Netanyahu is on trial for alleged fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies any wrongdoing.

Israel is determined to kill Hamas’ leaders “in every location” in the world, including Qatar, Turkey, and Lebanon, even if it takes many years, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in recordings revealed Sunday.

“In every location, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everyone,” he said in recordings aired by the Kan public broadcaster Sunday evening. “It will take a few years, but we will be there in order to do it.”

Dozens of Israeli tanks entered the southern part of the Gaza Strip near Khan Younis on Monday, witnesses told AFP, with the Israeli military widely expected to start ground operations in the area soon.

Armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were also seen. Amin Abu Hola, 59, said the Israeli vehicles were "two kilometres (1.2 miles) inside" the Palestinian territory in the village of Al-Qarara near Khan Younis, while Moaz Mohammed, 34, said Israeli tanks were on the southern part of Salah al-Din road which runs from the north to the south of the strip.

The Israeli army said Monday three more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 75 since the war began.

All three died in northern Gaza on Sunday, the military said. The deaths brought the total number of Israeli defence personnel killed since October 7 -- among them those who died in the Hamas attacks themselves, and including soldiers, reservists, kibbutz guards and others -- to 401.