Gaza residents cowered indoors Monday after Israeli jets pounded the enclave, as violence that has killed more than 200 people -- overwhelmingly Palestinian -- entered a second week.

The deadly escalation between Israel and the Palestinians has embarrassed Gulf states which forged ties with the Jewish state and put a strain on their Abraham Accords that were billed as a game-changer.

Heavy exchanges of rocket fire and air strikes, and rioting in mixed Jewish-Arab towns, fueled fears Wednesday that deadly violence between Israel and Palestinians could spiral into "full-scale war."

Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza exchanged heavy fire Tuesday, killing at least 26 Palestinians and two Israelis, in an escalation sparked by violent unrest at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Nine children were among those killed in the blockaded Gaza Strip that is controlled by Hamas and 125 people there were wounded, local health authorities said.  

Amnesty International said Israel is using "abusive and wanton force against largely peaceful Palestinian protesters" in east Jerusalem clashes that have wounded hundreds of demonstrators and dozens of police.

One civilian was killed and six wounded after a rare Israeli air raid on a northeastern Syrian region home to the longtime ruling Assad family, Syria's state media said Wednesday.

After a nearly six-month pause, Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday resumed indirect talks with U.S. mediation over their disputed maritime border.

The five-hour negotiations round was held "amid total secrecy and away from the media spotlight," Lebanon's National News Agency said.

Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip early Saturday after repeated salvos of rocket fire into Israel followed a second night of clashes between Palestinians and police in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel's military on Saturday said it had conducted airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip following a rocket attack from the Palestinian enclave, in the second such exchange in as many days.

The Israeli army early Friday said it had carried out airstrikes on military targets in the Gaza Strip after rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave hit southern Israel.