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.

Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies announced a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday after intensive meetings in Tokyo, condemning Hamas, supporting Israel's right to self-defense and calling for "humanitarian pauses" to speed aid to desperate civilians in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement following two days of talks, the nations sought to balance unequivocal criticism of Hamas' attacks against Israel and "the need for urgent action" to help civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday Israeli forces were operating "in the heart of Gaza City" one month after Hamas' bloody October 7 attacks, as the campaign to crush the Palestinian militants intensifies.

"We are in the heart of Gaza City," Gallant told reporters. "Gaza is the largest terrorist base ever built."

A journalist with Lebanese Al-Mayadeen television channel has filed a police complaint against an Israeli journalist who she alleged had "intimidated" her.

Hana Mohamed said Israeli journalist Haim Etgar confronted her at a post office after allegedly impersonating a postal employee and "threatening" her.

Three drones on Tuesday targeted a military base at Arbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan that plays host to troops from the U.S.-led anti-jihadist coalition, local officials said.

On Tuesday morning, "at two different points, three drones attacked the international coalition", the anti-terrorism service of the autonomous region of Kurdistan said in a statement.

A Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip and another was wounded, the official Palestinian news agency reported Tuesday.

Mohammad Abu Hasira was the latest among dozens of journalists killed in the month-long conflict that began with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel.

CIA Director William Burns is in the Middle East meeting with intelligence partners and leaders of several countries on matters including ones related to the war between Israel and Hamas, a U.S. official said.

Topics include the fate of some 240 people being held hostage by the Hamas militant group in Gaza, and the U.S. commitment to prevent state and nonstate actors from widening the Israel-Hamas war regionally, the U.S. official said.

Death, destruction and despair.

For the past month it has reigned on both sides of the border separating Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The U.N. Security Council has failed again to agree on a resolution on the monthlong Israel-Hamas war.

Despite more than two hours of closed-door discussions Monday, differences remained. The U.S. is calling for "humanitarian pauses" while many other council members are demanding a "humanitarian cease-fire" to deliver desperately needed aid and prevent more civilian deaths in Gaza.