Three sons and three grandchildren of Hamas' top political leader were killed Wednesday by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, and the leader accused Israel of acting in "the spirit of revenge and murder."

U.S. President Joe Biden issued some of his sternest criticism yet of Israel's war on Hamas, calling its approach a "mistake" as the country faces a Wednesday court deadline to prove it is not throttling aid to hunger-stricken Gaza.

With global outrage over the toll inflicted by the six-month-old war growing, Biden rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the conflict and reiterated the need for a ceasefire.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Wednesday that Israel's "disproportionate response" in the Gaza war with Hamas risks "destabilizing the Middle East, and as a consequence, the entire world."

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again warned Israel Wednesday that it "will be punished" for a Damascus air strike that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

"The evil regime made a mistake in this regard. It must be punished and will be punished," Khamenei said in a televised speech after Eid al-Adha prayers in Tehran.

Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian military position overnight in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the military said on Tuesday.

The cross-border fire came days after an air strike blamed on Israel destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing senior military commanders and raising regional tensions.

The leaders of France, Egypt and Jordan have warned Israel against a threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, urging an "immediate" ceasefire in its war on Hamas.

"We warn against the dangerous consequences of an Israeli offensive on Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge," they said in a joint editorial published in several newspapers.

Turkey and Israel announced tit-for-tat trade barriers on Tuesday as relations between them further deteriorated amid the war in Gaza.

Turkey, a staunch critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza, first announced that it was restricting exports of 54 types of products to Israel with immediate effect. The products include aluminum, steel, construction products, jet fuel and chemical fertilizers. Responding to the Turkish trade restrictions, Israel said it was preparing a ban on products from Turkey.

Hamas said Tuesday it was considering a new truce framework proposed during the latest talks in Cairo, as Palestinians returning to their homes in southern Gaza confronted the extent of destruction left after Israeli troops' withdrawal.

Six months into the bloodiest Gaza war, Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators have proposed another temporary ceasefire, according to a Hamas source.

Stunned Palestinians found their home city unrecognizable Monday as they filtered in to salvage what they could from the vast destruction left by Israeli troops who withdrew from southern Gaza's Khan Younis a day earlier after months of fighting and bombardment.

With thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged, families tried to find their homes along streets bulldozed down to the dirt, surrounded by landscapes of rubble and debris that were once blocks of apartments and businesses. On other blocks, buildings still stood but were gutted shells, scorched and full of holes, with partially shattered upper floors dangling off precipitously.

Iran's foreign minister has accused the United States of giving Israel the "green light" for a strike on its consulate building in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officials including two generals.

Hossein Amirabdollahian reiterated Monday Tehran's vows that it will respond to the attack, widely blamed on Israel, that appeared to signify an escalation of Israel's targeting of military officials from Iran, which supports militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza, and along its border with Lebanon.