JERUSALEM, Nov 06 (Reuters/AP/AFP): Efforts to pressure Israel to spare civilians in Gaza were set to continue on Monday after Israel rebuffed calls for a ceasefire amid a US diplomatic blitz to the region to help contain escalation of the conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet with Turkey's foreign minister in Ankara on Monday, hours after hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian protesters tried to storm an air base that houses US troops in southern Turkey.
Blinken on Sunday made an unannounced visit to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who joined international calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Woman, three children killed by
Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon
An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon on Sunday evening killed four civilians, including a woman and three children, raising the likelihood of a dangerous new escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants and their allies have been clashing for a month along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While clashes remain largely contained, they have increased in intensity as Israel conducts a ground incursion in Gaza against Hezbollah ally Hamas.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that two civilian cars carrying members of the same family - one of them a local journalist - were driving between the towns of Ainata and Aitaroun on Sunday evening when they were hit by an Israeli airstrike.
One of the cars was hit directly and burst into flames, the report said. One woman and three girls, ages 10, 12 and 14 were killed, and others were wounded, it said.
Iran says US 'encouraging'
Israel to kill Palestinians
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday accused the United States of "encouraging" Israel to kill and carry out "cruel acts" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Gunmen from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas stormed across Gaza's border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking over 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
South Africa to recall all
diplomats from Israel
The South African government said on Monday it would recall all its diplomats from Israel to "signal" its concern over the situation in Gaza.
"The South African government has decided to withdraw all its diplomats in Tel Aviv for consultation," Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president's office, told a press briefing.
