Israel struck multiple neighboring countries over the weekend, leaving the entire Middle East reeling from deadly violence Sunday.

Tel Aviv bombed Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen in quick succession in what it claimed was a response to attacks from Iran-backed armed groups across the region.

Despite Washington's top diplomat asserting a deal is near the "goal line" to end more than nine months of genocidal war on Gaza, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, as it pressed on with its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Dozens have been killed since Saturday across the Gaza Strip, the civil defense agency said, including in strikes on homes in the central Nuseirat and Bureij areas and displaced people near southern Khan Younis.

Residents said a major operation was underway in the Saudi district of Rafah in the south, reporting heavy artillery and clashes.

The deadly strikes in Gaza came hours after Hezbollah and its ally Hamas said they fired at Israeli positions from south Lebanon while Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed to respond to Israeli warplanes hitting a key port.

The fire left raging by the strikes on rebel-held Hodeida port "is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

Detailing the first strikes claimed by Israel in Yemen, Gallant warned of further operations if the Houthis "dare to attack us" after a rebel drone strike killed one in Tel Aviv on Friday.

In Hodeida, three people were killed and 87 wounded, health officials said in a statement carried by Houthi media.

Netanyahu set for US visit

The trio of armed groups has vowed to keep up attacks on Israel until a truce ends the violence in Gaza, which lies in ruins, with most residents forced to flee their homes.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The resistance members also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's military's genocidal war in comparison has killed at least 38,919 people, mostly women and children, according to data from the Gazan Health Ministry.

The war has also unleashed hunger and health crises in Gaza, with Israel and the United Nations trading blame for vital aid supplies failing to reach those in need.

After the detection of poliovirus in Gaza sewage, though no individual cases, the World Health Organization said there were "monumental" constraints to mounting a timely response.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Friday the agency believes many more diseases are "spreading out of control" inside Gaza.

The months-long war has also brought Israelis to the streets, sometimes in their tens of thousands, focused on securing the release of the remaining hostages.

"Bring them home," demonstrator Ofira Azrieli said Saturday in Tel Aviv, appealing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The premier is due to address U.S. lawmakers Wednesday in Washington, where he will be under pressure to reach a cease-fire with Hamas.

"He doesn't have to go there. First, you have to sign the deal and after, go to Washington," Azrieli, 64, told AFP.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday a truce was within reach.

"I believe we're ... driving toward the goal line in getting an agreement that would produce a cease-fire, get the hostages home, and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability," he said.