Top US diplomat to meet Israeli PM as fears of escalation rise

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken was set to meet Israeli leaders Tuesday as part of efforts to contain the war in Gaza, a day after strikes in Syria and Lebanon killed high-profile members of Hamas and its ally Hezbollah.

The visit comes as the Israeli military said its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was shifting into a new phase involving more targeted operations in the territory's centre and south.

Sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in central and southern Israel on Monday, as well as near the border with Lebanon, where Israeli strikes and tit-for-tat exchanges of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have raised fears the war could spread north.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah announced the killing of a "commander" for the first time since October, naming him as Wissam Hassan Tawil.

A security official in Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tawil "had a leading role in managing Hezbollah's operations in the south", and was killed there by an Israeli strike.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah "military sites" in Lebanon on Monday, but did not immediately comment on Tawil's death.

This was the second high-profile killing in Lebanon this month, following a strike in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut that resulted in the death of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri.

On Monday the Israeli army also said it had killed a "central" Hamas figure in Syria, Hassan Akasha, who had led "terrorist cells which fired rockets... toward Israeli territory".

The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the war resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel has responded with relentless bombardments and a...