Gaza's civil defense said dozens of bodies had been found buried at a hospital complex previously raided by Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ramp up military pressure on Hamas.

Netanyahu, who threatened action "in the coming days" without elaborating, has repeatedly said Israel will launch a ground assault on Rafah despite international concern for civilians who have taken refuge in the southern Gazan city.

The United States appears close to sanctioning an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, a move the Israeli prime minister angrily denounced as "the height of absurdity."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the West Bank.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel's war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.

Erdogan has failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the region, with the Hamas-run Palestinian territory bracing for a new Israeli offensive and a reported Israeli attack on Iran.

Iran and Israel appeared to step back from the brink of broader conflict as lawmakers in the United States approved new Israeli military aid despite growing criticism of its ally's war in Gaza.

Iran downplayed Israel's reported retaliation for its unprecedented drone and missile attack, tamping down fears that escalating attacks between the arch enemies could tip over into a broader war in the Middle East.

Several people were wounded in a "bombing" overnight on an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, two security sources said early Saturday.

The explosion hit the Calso military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, is stationed, according to an interior ministry source and a military official.

World leaders have appealed for calm after reported Israeli retaliation against Iran added to months of tense spillover from the war in Gaza, with Iranian state media reporting explosions in a central province.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh will meet Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday with Middle East tensions at a high after Israel's reported attack on Iran and Gaza bracing for a new Israeli offensive.

Erdogan has sought but failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Palestinian conflict. And he has remained discreet about his meetings with the Hamas head.

The United States was "not involved in any offensive operation", U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday following reports that Israel had carried out revenge strikes on Iran.

"I'm not going to speak to these reported events... All I can say is for our part and for all the members of the G7 our focus is on de-escalation", Blinken told a press conference on the Italian island of Capri.

Russia has made clear to Israel that Iran "does not want escalation", Moscow's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, after reports Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes against its arch-rival.

"There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian radio stations.

International reactions Friday after Israel's reported attack on the Iranian province of Isfahan, where it has military bases and nuclear facilities:

- China -