Killing babies "as a hobby." "Expelling a population." "Fighting against civilians."

It is some of the harshest language against Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza and it came this week from a prominent Israeli politician, sparking a domestic uproar as the country faces heavy international criticism.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused European governments of incitement against his country on Thursday after the fatal shooting of two embassy staffers in Washington.

"There is a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder," Saar told a press conference. "This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe."

Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, where AFP journalists reported loud booms overheard, as the Israeli military announced it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a statement.

The main comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin at a Jerusalem press conference on Wednesday in which he discussed the Gaza war and tensions with Iran:

- Gaza hostages -

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with U.S., Israeli and other world leaders expressing outrage over the killings.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack in the heart of the U.S. capital, saying: "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!"

Algeria and France are currently experiencing their worst crisis since the former French colony won independence in 1962, said the author of a landmark report on France's legacy in the north African nation.

It will take painstaking work, including on historical grievances, to restore trust, Benjamin Stora, one of the world's leading experts on French-Algerian history, added in an interview with AFP.

Two of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals have been encircled by Israeli troops, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said this week, as Israel pursued its renewed offensive into the devastated Palestinian territory.

The Indonesian hospital and al-Awda hospital are among the region's only surviving medical centers.

Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 45 people, including several women and a week-old infant. The strikes came as Israel's war on Hamas shows no signs of relenting, despite a surge in international anger at Israel's widening offensive.

Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but the aid has not yet reached Palestinians in desperate need, according to aid groups.

The Palestinian Authority accused Israeli forces of firing on diplomats as they visited the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, releasing video of two soldiers aiming rifles at a group of people.

It condemned "the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate." A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP he had heard "repeated shots" coming from inside Jenin refugee camp. An Israeli army spokesperson said: "I am looking into it."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a fresh civil war of "epic proportions," as he called for support to the transitional leadership.