An Israeli airstrike killed an official in the Hamas-run government in Gaza who Israel said was also involved in militant activities.

Hamas confirmed that Abdel-Fattah al-Zariai was killed alongside his mother in an airstrike on Sunday. In a statement of mourning, it identified him as the undersecretary of its Economy Ministry and said he had held other “honorable positions” without referring to any militant role.

The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Israel on Monday after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Gen. Hossein Salami, speaking to journalists at an event, warned that Israel was “digging its own grave” with its actions in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and that it is suspected of carrying out Haniyeh’s killing.

Israel's army said it had not changed "as of now" its policy for protecting civilians, as Iran and Hezbollah are expected to avenge killings blamed on Israel of two senior members.

"I would like to refer tonight to the various reports and rumors that we are on alert for the enemy's response to the territory of the State of Israel," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Sunday in an online briefing to journalists.

A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said Sunday, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them.

The Houthis offered no explanation for the two-week pause in their attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which have seen similar slowdowns since the assaults began in November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the resumption comes after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, amid renewed concerns over the war breaking out into a regional conflict.

Israel is already in a "multi-front war" with Iran and its proxies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and prevent an even more destructive regional conflict.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

Jordan's foreign minister has met Iran's acting foreign minister in Tehran as the United States and its Arab allies try to prevent a wider war after the back-to-back killings of top Iran-allied militants sparked vows of revenge against Israel.

Ayman Safadi is the first senior Jordanian official to pay an official visit to Iran in over 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran toward Israel in April. Iran said it was retaliating for the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria.

Urgent calls grew for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon, which would be on the front line of a regional war, as Iran and its allies readied their response to high-profile killings blamed on Israel.

While diplomats worked to avert a feared conflagration, France's Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II said Sunday a regional military escalation must be avoided "at all costs", the French presidency said after they held a telephone call.

Middle East tensions soared as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas' political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war.

Israel ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon -- where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah is based -- and airlines canceled flights.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and accused the United States of supporting the attack which it blamed on Israel, state TV reported.

The televised statement, which reiterated a call for retaliation, said a rocket with a seven-kilogram (about 15-pound) warhead was used to target the residence of Hamas' political leader in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, adding it caused heavy devastation. It didn't share details of the residence's location.

Israeli strikes early Sunday killed 12 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced people inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war.