French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking after meeting Israel's prime minister on Tuesday, proposed a coalition to fight terror groups in the region “that threaten all of us.”

He compared the proposal to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. He was referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran itself and the Houtis in Yemen, among others, saying they must not take the risk of opening a new front.

French President Emmanuel Macron was Tuesday set to become the first Western leader to meet both Israel's premier and the Palestinian president, more than two weeks into the brutal Gaza conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.

As Israel battles Gaza's Hamas after suffering the worst attack in its 75-year history, Macron visited to express solidarity but also to stress the need to protect Gaza's civilian population in the withering bombing campaign since.

The United States has accused Iran of "actively facilitating" attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East as it confirmed it had sent a small number of military advisors to Israel.

U.S. concerns have been rising about the potential for escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas militants, although Washington has rejected calls for a ceasefire as it says that ally Israel has a right to self-defense.

The Pentagon has sent military advisers, including a Marine Corps general versed in urban warfare, to Israel to aid in its war planning and is speeding multiple sophisticated air defense systems to the Middle East days ahead of an anticipated ground assault into Gaza.

One of the officers leading the assistance is Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn, who previously helped lead special operations forces against the Islamic State and served in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the most heated urban combat there, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss Glynn's role and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Israel escalated its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants that the U.S. fears could spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.

The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll in Gaza, came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating Oct. 7 attack on towns in southern Israel.

Israel ramped up its airstrikes Monday in Gaza, where the death toll is rising rapidly, and the United States advised Israel to delay an expected ground invasion to allow more time to negotiate the release of hostages taken by Hamas militants.

Israel has allowed two small aid convoys but no fuel to enter the besieged coastal enclave, where there has been a power blackout for nearly two weeks. Hospitals say they are scrounging for generator fuel in order to keep operating life-saving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.

A premature baby squirms inside a glass incubator in the neonatal ward of al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip. He cries out as intravenous lines are connected to his tiny body. A ventilator helps him breathe as a catheter delivers medication and monitors flash his fragile vital signs.

His life hinges on the constant flow of electricity, which is in danger of running out imminently unless the hospital can get more fuel for its generators. Once the generators stop, hospital director Iyad Abu Zahar fears that the babies in the ward, unable to breathe on their own, will perish.

There is a confidence crisis between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leadership of his army while his relation with Defense Minister Yoav Galant is tense, which is hindering cooperation between them, an Israeli media report said.

Moreover, at least three ministers in the Israeli emergency government are considering resigning to force Netanyahu to bear responsibility for the security failure, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahraonot said Monday.

Israeli warplanes are striking Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the besieged territory. Fears of a widening war have grown as Israel struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon and traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

Two aid convoys arrived in the Gaza Strip over the weekend through the Rafah crossing from Egypt. Israel said the trucks carried food, water and medical supplies. Israel has not allowed in fuel, which is critically needed for water and sanitation systems and hospitals.

The United States warned Iran or its allies against any "escalation" in the wake of Israel's war with Hamas, two top U.S. officials said, hours after the Pentagon moved to step up military readiness in the region.

With tensions mounting, Washington also announced Sunday it had ordered non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in Iraq.