China, the world's biggest exporter, says it is deeply concerned about tensions in the Red Sea that have upended global trade by forcing many shippers to avoid the Suez Canal.

China has been in "close communication with all parties concerned and making positive efforts to de-escalate" the situation in which Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked international ships with missiles, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.

Heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza overnight killed at least 125 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said Wednesday, against the backdrop of talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a truce.

As the fighting raged, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said Israeli forces had issued fresh evacuation orders for a section of Khan Younis housing an estimated half a million residents and displaced people.

By Sara Harmouch, American University and Nakissa Jahanbani, United States Military Academy West Point

From attacks by rebels in the Red Sea to raids in northern Israel and the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas, Western analysts have pointed a finger of blame toward Iran.

American forces destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen that posed an imminent threat to ships in the area, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The United States and Britain have carried out two rounds of joint strikes aimed at reducing the Houthis' ability to target shipping, while Washington has also launched a series of unilateral air raids on the Iran-backed rebels' missiles.

Iraq accused the United States of contributing to a "reckless escalation" of violence in the region after American airstrikes targeted Iran-backed groups in the country on Wednesday.

The pre-dawn air raid came against an already explosive regional backdrop, fuelled by the war in Gaza between Washington's ally Israel and the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

A senior Egyptian official says Israel has proposed a two-month cease-fire in which Hamas would release Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Under the proposal, Yehya Sinwar and other top Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to relocate to other countries.

Egypt has warned Israel that any attempt to seize security control of the strip of land that separates Gaza and Egypt will result in a “serious threat” to relations between the neighboring states.

The Philadelphi corridor is a 14-kilometer (nine-mile) -long slither of land that separates Egypt from Gaza.

The Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday that its forces have encircled the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

The territory’s second largest city has seen heavy fighting in recent days, with dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded.

Britain on Tuesday vowed to keep hampering the ability of Yemen's Houthis to attack Red Sea shipping, following the latest joint-US strikes on the Iran-backed rebels.

"What we have done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks while sending the clearest possible message that we back our words and our warnings with action," foreign minister David Cameron told broadcasters.

Israel has proposed to Hamas via Qatari and Egyptian mediators a pause in fighting of up to two months as part of a deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, the U.S. news site Axios reported.

The report, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said the deal would take place in multiple stages, the first of which would see the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition.