Hamas says engaged in 'heavy fighting' with Israeli army in Gaza

GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestine — Resistance movement Hamas's armed wing said on Sunday its fighters were engaged in "heavy fighting" with Israeli occupation forces in Gaza after Israeli military deployed more ground forces across the Palestinian territory.

"Our fighters are currently engaged in heavy fighting with machine-guns and anti-tank weapons with the invading occupation [Israeli] forces in northwest Gaza," the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

In an earlier statement the group said two Israeli tanks had caught fire after they were targeted by its fighters, a claim which the army has not confirmed.

Israeli forces continued to pound north Gaza with air and artillery shelling on Sunday evening.

Earlier on Sunday the army said it had increased the number of troops fighting inside the Gaza Strip as it stepped up its war on Hamas in the tiny coastal territory.

Israeli forces had made several smaller-scale ground incursions inside Gaza before, but the current one has been their longest presence in the territory since the latest violence erupted.