Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Saturday that anti-Israel militant groups in the region are “fully ready” to respond to any move by Israel.

The minister spoke in Beirut at the end of a tour that took him to Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran enjoys wide influence and where tens of thousands of Iran-backed fighters are deployed.

Israel's call Friday for half of the Gaza Strip's population to evacuate south is hiking Egypt's fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory.

Since Hamas' bloody attack on Israel sparked a massive retaliation in Gaza, Egypt's leadership has frantically tried to negotiate the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing into the Palestinian territory — partially in hopes of averting an exodus into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Officials say its efforts have received no response from Israel.

A 50-year-old Israeli man who works at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was stabbed on Friday in front of a supermarket, Chinese police and the Israeli government said.

Beijing police said they had arrested a suspect, a 53-year-old foreign man. They said the victim is a family member of an Israeli diplomat. No motive was given for the attack.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of six Arab capitals to build pressure on Hamas while Israel readies a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants' attacks.

The top U.S. diplomat spent a morning in Amman huddled with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a longtime U.S. partner, and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. He will head later Friday to Qatar and then Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before heading in the coming days to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, officials said.

Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and to protest against the Israeli airstrikes pounding the Gaza Strip, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict erupting as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion there.

From Amman, Jordan, to Yemen's capital, Muslims poured out onto the streets after weekly Friday prayers. At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israeli police had been permitting only older men, women and children to the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to prevent the potential for demonstration as tens of thousands attend on a typical Friday.

Palestinians carried belongings through the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza City Friday in search of refuge as Israel's army warned residents to flee immediately before an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

Hamas fighters broke through the militarized border barrier around the Gaza Strip enclave last Saturday, killing more than 1,300 people in Israel.

Israeli strikes targeted Syria's two main airports on Thursday, Syrian state television said, in the first such attack since a Hamas assault on Israel at the weekend triggered fierce fighting.

"Israeli aggression targets Damascus and Aleppo airports," the state television reported on the messaging app Telegram, without providing additional details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will begin Thursday a tour in the region that includes a visit to Lebanon, Iran’s ambassador said.

The ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, said that the visit comes “amid the current developments in Palestine and the crimes that are being committed against Gaza and their dangerous repercussions.”

Germany is offering military help to Israel and promising to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home following the group's attack on Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlined Germany's historical responsibility for Israel's security.

The Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople. And Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed.

Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond.

A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. And special operations forces are now assisting Israel's military in planning and intelligence.