Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories   -   Fighting raged Wednesday between Israeli troops and Palestinian group in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, witnesses said, as fears grow of a wider regional war drawing in Lebanese Hezbollah.

Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip however appeared to ease days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the “intense phase” of the war was nearing its end, and as his defence minister visited Washington for crisis talks. As the war in Gaza nears its 10th month, Israel’s top ally the United States warned it of the risk of a major conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon following an escalation in cross-border fire. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his visiting Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. “Diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent more escalation,” Austin said.

Top Israeli officials including Netanyahu have suggested they were open to a diplomatic resolution of the border tensions, though Gallant said Israel should be ready for “every possible scenario”.

Israel’s military said last week plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated”, prompting fresh threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. In Beirut on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that any “miscalculation” could trigger all-out war and urged “extreme restraint”. Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly meanwhile told her country’s citizens in Lebanon to protectively leave “while they can”.

On the ground in Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, witnesses reported clashes during the night, and the Israeli military said its air force struck a rocket launch site. UN agencies said 10 Gazan children a day are losing one or both legs and half a million Palestinians in the besieged territory suffer “catastrophic” hunger.