Israeli air strikes killed three pro-Iran fighters on Wednesday as they hit sites belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah near the Syrian capital Damascus, a war monitor said.

Israel has struck Syria several times in the past month as regional tensions simmer over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. launched an airstrike Wednesday on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation to an increasing number of attacks over the past several weeks on bases housing U.S. troops, the Pentagon said.

Two U.S. F-15 fighter jets carried out the strike on a weapons storage facility linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Negotiations are underway to reach a three-day humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of about a dozen hostages held by Hamas. That’s according to two officials from Egypt, one from the United Nations and a Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic efforts.

The deal would enable more aid, including limited amounts of fuel, to enter the besieged territory to alleviate worsening conditions for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped there. It is being brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, according to the officials and the diplomat.

Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight and into Thursday as ground forces battled Hamas militants in dense urban neighborhoods from which tens of thousands have fled in recent days.

Israeli troops were around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Shifa Hospital in the heart of downtown, the hospital's director said. Israel has been vague on troop movements, but officials say Gaza's largest city is the focus of their campaign to crush Hamas following its deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel.

A senior Israeli official has told CBS News and other reporters that Israel is ready for a pause in the fighting in Gaza if it concretely assesses Hamas is serious about releasing hostages.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated U.S. support for humanitarian pauses in Israel's military operations in Gaza to address "urgent needs" on the ground.

Israel and Hamas are on the verge of reaching a three-day ceasefire agreement, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday.

Egyptian sources meanwhile said that Cairo is about to achieve a humanitarian truce in Gaza involving the exchange of hostages and captives.

The U.S. has promised to convince Israel’s government to agree to a brief humanitarian truce in the war on Gaza and the discussions are now revolving around what can be done during the proposed pause, informed Palestinian sources quoted Arab and regional capitals as saying.

“The discussions are focusing on an incomplete exchange of civilian captives held by the resistance forces in Gaza in return for the entry of a large quantity of aid into Gaza, including fuel, and helping in addressing the file of those trapped under the rubble,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

The Islamic State group ambushed pro-government militiamen in an overnight attack in eastern Syria, killing at least 21 fighters, pro-government media and an opposition war monitor said Wednesday.

Sham FM radio reported that the militiamen from the pro-government National Defense Places were ambushed in the village of al-Kawm in the central Syrian desert, between the government-held city of Homs and south of the city of Raqqa, which is under control of U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces.

G7 foreign ministers called Wednesday on Iran to refrain from providing support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and to use its influence to de-escalate regional tensions.

"We call on Iran to refrain from providing support for Hamas and taking further actions that destabilize the Middle East, including support for Lebanese Hezbollah and other non-state actors, and to use its influence with those groups to de-escalate regional tensions," the ministers said in a joint statement after talks in Japan.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing south on foot with only what they can carry after running out of food and water in the north, a U.N. agency said Wednesday, as Israel said its troops were battling Hamas militants deep inside Gaza City.

Over 70% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have already fled their homes, but the growing numbers making their way south point to an increasingly desperate situation in and around Gaza's largest city, which has come under heavy Israeli bombardment.