A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said Sunday, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them.

The Houthis offered no explanation for the two-week pause in their attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which have seen similar slowdowns since the assaults began in November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the resumption comes after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, amid renewed concerns over the war breaking out into a regional conflict.

Israel is already in a "multi-front war" with Iran and its proxies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and prevent an even more destructive regional conflict.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

Jordan's foreign minister has met Iran's acting foreign minister in Tehran as the United States and its Arab allies try to prevent a wider war after the back-to-back killings of top Iran-allied militants sparked vows of revenge against Israel.

Ayman Safadi is the first senior Jordanian official to pay an official visit to Iran in over 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran toward Israel in April. Iran said it was retaliating for the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria.

Urgent calls grew for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon, which would be on the front line of a regional war, as Iran and its allies readied their response to high-profile killings blamed on Israel.

While diplomats worked to avert a feared conflagration, France's Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II said Sunday a regional military escalation must be avoided "at all costs", the French presidency said after they held a telephone call.

Middle East tensions soared as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas' political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war.

Israel ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon -- where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah is based -- and airlines canceled flights.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and accused the United States of supporting the attack which it blamed on Israel, state TV reported.

The televised statement, which reiterated a call for retaliation, said a rocket with a seven-kilogram (about 15-pound) warhead was used to target the residence of Hamas' political leader in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, adding it caused heavy devastation. It didn't share details of the residence's location.

Israeli strikes early Sunday killed 12 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced people inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war.

The United States will bolster its military presence in the Middle East, deploying additional warships and fighter jets to protect U.S. personnel and defend Israel amid soaring tensions in the region, the Pentagon said.

An Israeli drone strike killed five people in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian press agency Wafa and Palestinian sources reported, while the Israeli military said it struck a "terrorist cell" in the Tulkarem region.

France on Friday urged its nationals visiting Iran to leave immediately, after Tehran accused Israel of killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, sparking regional tensions.

"Due to the increased risk of a military escalation in the region, visiting French nationals still in Iran are invited to leave as soon as possible," the foreign ministry said.