GAZA TOLL CROSSES 25,000, ITS WORST EVER IN DECADES OF CONFLICT: GOVT

Fighting raged across Gaza and Israeli units raided the West Bank on Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced growing domestic criticism, rejected calls for post-war "Palestinian sovereignty".

• Gaza death toll soars as Bibi rejects Palestinian state again

The death, destruction and displacement from the war is without precedent in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli officials say the fighting is likely to continue for several more months.

The conflict has divided ordinary Israelis and their leaders while the offensive threatens to ignite a wider war involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen that support the Palestinians. In Lebanon, Hezbollah forces have engaged in near-daily clashes with Israeli troops along the border.

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday hit a car near a Lebanese army checkpoint in the southern town of Kafra, killing at least one person and injuring several others, Lebanese state media reported. Their identities were not immediately clear. Israel's military said its aircraft and tanks struck a number of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The United States, which has provided diplomatic and military support for Israel's offensive, has had limited success in persuading Israel to put civilians at less risk and to facilitate the delivery of more humanitarian aid.