EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday backed imposing sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers responsible for attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

"I am in favour of sanctioning those involved in the attacks in the West Bank. They must be held accountable. This violence has nothing to do with the fight against Hamas and must stop," the European Commission president told EU lawmakers.

Palestinian militants ambushed Israeli troops in a dense Gaza City neighborhood, killing at least nine of them, media reported Wednesday, as Hamas put up stiff resistance in areas that Israel has isolated and pounded with airstrikes for over nine weeks.

The air and ground offensive has resulted in the deaths of over 18,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the war. Nearly 85% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have been forced to flee their homes, and much of the territory's north resembles a moonscape.

Two missiles fired from territory held by Yemen's Houthi rebels missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, a U.S. official said.

An American warship also shot down a suspected Houthi drone flying in its direction during the incident, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. No one was hurt in the attack, the official said.

Israeli soldiers rummaging through private homes in Gaza. Forces destroying plastic figurines in a toy store, or trying to burn food and water supplies in the back of an abandoned truck. Troops with their arms slung around each other, chanting racist slogans as they dance in a circle.

Several viral videos and photos of Israeli soldiers behaving in a derogatory manner in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its punishing war against Hamas.

Israel and the United States have showed their sharpest public disagreement yet over the conduct and future of the war against Hamas as the two allies became increasingly isolated by global calls for a cease-fire.

The dispute emerged while Israeli forces carried out strikes across Gaza, crushing Palestinians in homes.

President Joe Biden has warned that Israel was losing international support because of its "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza, speaking out in unusually strong language just hours before the United Nations demanded a humanitarian cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

"Israel's security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them," Biden said to donors during a fundraiser Tuesday.

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The vote also showed the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 153 in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions, and ambassadors and other diplomats burst into applause as the final numbers were displayed. The United States and Israel were joined in opposing the resolution by eight countries — Austria, Czechia, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay.

Jordanian troops clashed Tuesday with dozens of drug smugglers along the country's northern border with Syria, leaving several dead including one soldier while another was wounded, the army said.

The smugglers were trying to bring into Jordan "large amounts of drugs" while taking advantage of fog and low visibility, a statement by the Jordanian Armed Forces said. It said some of them were killed and the others fled.

Middle East leaders gathered in Qatar sought ideas for what happens after the Gaza war, but remained firmly opposed to putting their own troops or international forces into the ravaged territory.

The Palestinian question is extremely delicate for leaders in the Arab world, where the war has sparked massive protests in several countries.

The Israeli military said Tuesday more than a tenth of its troops killed in Gaza were the result of friendly fire, while multiple other soldier deaths were also accidental.

"To date there have been 105 deaths since the ground operations, 20 of which were accidents," a military spokesperson told AFP.