Yemen's Houthi rebels said Israeli air strikes hit the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday, with an AFP journalist reporting the sound of explosions.

"Israeli aggression on the capital Sanaa," the Houthis' al-Masirah television reported on Telegram.

The tiny, gas-rich Gulf Arab state of Qatar hosts the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East. It has evacuated tens of thousands of American citizens from Afghanistan. It has been designated a U.S. "major non-NATO ally." It has even lavished a $400 million jumbo jet on President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One.

None of that protected this quiet peninsula in the Persian Gulf from coming under an Israeli aerial attack on Tuesday as it mediated U.S.-backed negotiations to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday slammed Israel's attack on Hamas in Qatar, calling the strike a "criminal act" in a call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Israel notified the United States before it carried out air strikes on senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha, a White House official said Tuesday.

"We were informed in advance," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity about the strike on Qatar, a key U.S. ally that's home to a large U.S. military base.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday, following a deadly shooting in Jerusalem a day earlier claimed by the Palestinian militant group.

Israel's military said it conducted air strikes targeting senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Tuesday, as Qatar condemned an attack on buildings housing members of the Palestinian militant movement.

Qatar, which has been a key mediator in efforts to broker a truce in Gaza, said Israeli strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas's political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the militant group's senior leadership is based.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that it will act with "great force" in Gaza City and told residents to leave as it stepped up its deadly assault on the Palestinian territory's largest urban center.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a similar warning, as Israel intensified its bombardment in preparation for an operation to seize Gaza City despite global calls to end the war.

Israeli air strikes hit areas of the central and western Syrian cities of Homs and Latakia late Monday, state news agency SANA reported.

Israel struck and destroyed another high-rise building in Gaza City on Monday after warning residents to evacuate, part of an offensive aimed at taking over the largest Palestinian city. The military said it was targeting Hamas observation posts and bombs placed around the 12-story office building.

Over the past several days, Israel has destroyed multiple high-rise buildings in Gaza City, accusing Hamas of putting surveillance infrastructure in them. It has ordered people to flee ahead of its ground offensive into the city of some 1 million residents, which experts say is experiencing famine.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday ratcheted up his criticism of Israel's actions in the 23-month Israel-Hamas war, to which Israel responded by banning two left-wing Spanish ministers from the country.