A second aid convoy crossed into the Gaza Strip from Egypt late on October 22, the latest attempt to stem a growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave as Israeli forces struck the West Bank and traded volleys with Hezbollah along the Lebanese border.

The aid included “water, food and medical equipment,” according to a statement from an Israeli defense ministry agency. “All of the equipment was inspected by Israeli security personnel before it was brought into Gaza,” it added.

The United Nations said 14 more trucks had crossed into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed the shipment, saying it arrived around 10:20 p.m.

The shipment came a day after a convoy of 20 trucks made the same trip Saturday — but international aid officials continued to warn that far more was needed.

“Another small glimmer of hope for the millions of people in dire need of humanitarian aid,” Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s head of emergency relief, wrote on social media. “But they need more, much more.”

Israel has continued to pound Gaza with punishing airstrikes after cross-border attacks by Hamas militants Oct. 7. As Israeli forces were amassed along the border with Gaza, escalating clashes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, along with strikes in Syria and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have intensified fears of a widening regional conflict.

Israeli authorities said they were expanding a state-funded evacuation plan to move residents from an additional 14 Israeli villages near the border with Lebanon to safer areas. The move came as Israel’s military said Sunday it was contending with increasing attacks from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that controls southern Lebanon, that have resulted in civilian and military casualties.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration believes there is “a likelihood of escalation, escalation by Iranian proxies directed against our forces, directed against our personnel” in the days to come.

“We are taking steps to make sure that we can effectively defend our people,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

Violence also has been surging across the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military carried out a rare airstrike there overnight against what it described as an underground “terror compound” beneath a mosque in the city of Jenin. Two people were killed, according to Palestinian health officials.

Here are some other developments:

— Senior Israeli commanders have increasingly been making public references to preparations for a ground assault. The Israeli military also reiterated its warning for civilians in Gaza to move to the southern part of the enclave as a humanitarian crisis spirals. But many people in the north said that doing so was not an option because of cost — and that it was no guarantee of safety.

— Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continued “almost unabated,” while Palestinian armed groups continued with their “indiscriminate rocket firing” toward Israel, the United Nations said. The death toll in Gaza has increased to at least 4,385, while injuries number more than 13,500, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. On the Israeli side, the fatalities remained at 1,400, but injuries increased to almost 5,000, the U.N. said.

— The Israeli military said one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian post near the border crossing between the two countries at Kerem Shalom. The military expressed “sorrow” and said the episode was under investigation. Egypt’s military said there were minor injuries but described the incident as an accident and noted Israel’s immediate apology. Kerem Shalom is a couple of miles from Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, from which a small convoy of aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday.

— Syria’s state-run news agency said the airports in Damascus and Aleppo were shut after an early-morning strike by Israel that killed a civilian worker in Damascus. The report could not be independently verified, and Israel didn’t immediately comment. Israel has a policy of not commenting on possible operations in Syria.

The New York Times News Service