French President Emmanuel Macron has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "avoid a cycle of reprisals" in the Middle East, his office said, as fears of a regional war soar.

After earlier telling his Iranian counterpart to "avoid a cycle of reprisals that would put the populations and stability of the region at risk", Macron urged Netanyahu in a telephone call on Wednesday to adopt the same reasoning, the French presidency said in a statement.

Fighters backed by Iran and the Syrian government have attacked areas controlled by U.S.-backed fighters in eastern Syria, killing at least two people and wounding others, the main U.S.-backed force in the war-torn country and an opposition war monitor said Wednesday.

The clashes in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, came amid high tension in the region following last week's killings of a top military commander of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group in Beirut and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will skip this year's atomic bombing memorial service in Nagasaki because Israel was not invited, the embassy said Wednesday.

Emanuel will not attend the event on Friday because it was "politicized" by Nagasaki's decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said.

U.S. President Joe Biden over the past week conducted an intense round of diplomacy and military preparation to stave off a catastrophic war in the Middle East, the Washington Post has reported.

“The White House effort has included back-channel talks with Iran to urge restraint, blunt warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to obstruct a cease-fire in Gaza, and the dispatch of a U.S. naval and air armada to protect Israel and other U.S. allies if deterrence fails,” the U.S. newspaper said.

Efforts continue around the region to prevent the war from becoming a wider conflict after the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran.

Inside Gaza, the only corridor for humanitarian aid to enter the south has been shut down because of fighting in the area. The Palestinian territory faces a severe humanitarian crisis as its Health Ministry says the death toll in the war approaches 40,000.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader.

The choice of Sinwar, a secretive figure who leads Hamas’ hardliners and is close to Iran, was a defiant step. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s kill list as it seeks to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the Oct. 7 attack.

Calling for calm in the Middle East, top U.S. national security leaders have said that they and allies are directly pressing Israel, Iran and others to avoid escalating the conflict, even as the U.S. moved more troops to the region and threatened retaliation if American forces are attacked.

"It's urgent that everyone in the region take stock of the situation, understand the risk of miscalculation, and make decisions that will calm tensions, not exacerbate them," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the close of a meeting with Australian leaders.

Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader in a dramatic sign of the power of the Palestinian militant group's hardline wing after his predecessor was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Iran.

The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure close to Iran who worked for years to build up Hamas' military strength, was a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel's campaign in Gaza and after the assassination of Sinwar's predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkey’s foreign minister has announced that his country will on Wednesday formally submit a request to intervene in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Hakan Fidan, whose country is among the fiercest critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza, made the comment in Cairo during a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart. Turkey in May had announced its intention to intervene in the case which was filed by South Africa.

Leaders in Egypt and Turkey are exhausting all avenues possible to prevent Israel’s war in Gaza from becoming a wider regional conflict, the Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers said Monday at a joint press conference.

Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign and migration minister, said that he spoke with his counterpart Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s minister of foreign affairs, about the crisis in Gaza, the situation in Libya and Sudan, the situation in the Red Sea and the issues in Yemen.