GAZA STRIP (Palestinian Territories): Israeli strikes pounded southern Gaza on Sunday, the 100th day of the war on Hamas which has claimed a surging civilian death toll and ravaged the besieged Palestinian territory.

The Hamas government media office said Sunday that “more than 100 people were martyred in the attacks last night until 6:00 am in all areas of the Gaza Strip”.

An AFP correspondent in Rafah, in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt, saw a thick column of smoke after strikes on the city where many displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in makeshift tents.

Fears that the conflict could spread across the wider region grew when new strikes hit Iran-backed Huthis in Yemen on Saturday, after the rebels warned of more attacks in solidarity with Gaza on what they deem Israeli-linked Red Sea shipping.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, which has seen regular exchanges of fire with Hamas ally Hezbollah, the Israeli army said it killed four gunmen who had crossed the frontier and “fired at the forces”.

Troops patrolling the Har Dov area — Israel’s term for the disputed Shebaa Farms district near the annexed Golan Heights — “engaged and responded with live fire”, a statement said, adding that “four terrorists were killed”.