US President Joe Biden assured his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the US is "committed" with the security of the Jewish state in the face of "all threats from Iran", reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
During the phone call between the two, in which Vice President Kamala Harris also participated, the current occupant of the White House also "underlined the importance of continued efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region", a statement from the US presidency said.
"The President reaffirmed his commitment to Israel's security against all threats from Iran, including through proxy terrorist groups such as "Hamas", "Hezbollah" and the Houthis," the US presidency said in a statement.
Joe Biden also discussed with Netanyahu "efforts to strengthen Israel's defenses against potential threats, including threats from ballistic missiles and drones", which could include "new deployments of US defensive weapons", the White House added.
Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had earlier said that the US was "engaged in intensive efforts" to avoid a major conflict in the Middle East.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his US counterpart Joe Biden in a phone call that Israel was trying to spread the war in Gaza to the region and did not want a ceasefire, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA, citing a statement from his office.
It added that Biden thanked Erdogan for efforts related to the East-West prisoner swap in Ankara.
A statement from the Turkish presidency said that Erdogan told Biden that the Israeli government had shown "at every step" its unwillingness to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the US Congress had caused "deep disappointment" in Turkey and around the world.
Erdogan also said that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian armed group "Hamas", had dealt a "heavy blow" to the ceasefire efforts, the Turkish president's office said.
Erdogan also promised to continue working to improve ties between the NATO allies.
"Hezbollah" announced that it had fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel in response to the strike that killed four Syrians in southern Lebanon - the first attack by the Lebanese group since the assassination of one of its military leaders on Tuesday evening, Agence France-Presse noted, quoted by BTA.
"Hezbollah" fighters "fired dozens of Katyusha rockets" at Kibbutz Matsuva, the pro-Iranian movement said in a statement, "in response to the Israeli enemy's attack on the Shamaa area, which killed several civilians".
The Israeli army said many of the shells had crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, adding that some had been intercepted. "The rest fell in unpopulated areas," it said.
Shortly after the shots, the Israeli air force struck the location "from which the shells were fired in the Yater area" in southern Lebanon, the statement added.
Earlier yesterday, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that four Syrians had been killed and five Lebanese were wounded in an Israeli strike in Shamaa in the south of the country, where Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging daily strikes for nearly ten months.
Due to the "large number of mutilated bodies, the final number of martyrs will be determined based on DNA tests," the ministry said. According to a local rescuer, the victims worked in agriculture and belonged to the same family.
The missile attacks come at a time when Hezbollah" Hassan Nasrallah said his party had temporarily suspended its attacks after Tuesday night's strike on Fouad Shukr, the party's military chief, which killed seven people, including five civilians.
Nasrallah added that they would be renewed this morning and vowed to respond to "the aggression" against the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Hours later, another strike blamed on Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The clashes between "Hezbollah" and Israel began shortly after the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by an attack by the Palestinian movement "Hamas" on Israeli territory. According to an AFP count, at least 542 people were killed, most of them fighters, but also 114 civilians. According to the Israeli army, at least 22 soldiers and 25 civilians, including twelve young men, were killed in a rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
For its part, "Hamas" called yesterday for today to become a "day of rage" in the West Bank. The Islamist group called on Palestinians to pray for the late Haniyeh during Friday prayers, DPA notes.