Hosts and defending champions Qatar on Wednesday were the first team to reach the Asian Cup knockout rounds, but China will need to fight it out to join them after successive 0-0 draws.

Qatar were left red-faced after losing all three games at their home World Cup in 2022, the worst performance of any host in the competition's history.

They then axed Carlos Queiroz early last month and replaced the former Real Madrid coach with Tintin Marquez in a last-minute gamble.

AFP journalists around the world staged rallies Wednesday to show solidarity with nine colleagues in Gaza, with agency chiefs calling on Israel to ensure their safety and let them leave the war-torn territory.

Journalists and other AFP staff in Paris and bureau across AFP's global network gathered with portraits of Gaza colleagues who have been unable to leave since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.

The demonstration was organised by AFP's management, with unions and the Journalists' Association (SDJ).

American forces targeted 14 missiles that were ready to launch in Yemen, the US military said Wednesday, after Washington re-designated the Iran-backed Huthi rebels as a "terrorist" entity for their attacks on merchant vessels.

The Huthis -- who have already faced multiple rounds of air strikes in response to their targeting of international shipping -- struck a US-owned bulk cargo carrier in the wake of the designation announcement, and vowed to continue attacks they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The United States announced Wednesday that it will put Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels back on a list of "terrorist" entities due to their repeated attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

The Huthis have already faced multiple rounds of air strikes in response to their targeting of merchant vessels, but have continued to carry out attacks they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

They have also declared US and British interests to be "legitimate targets."

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned Wednesday of the bleak future facing Gazans after the war between Hamas and Israel ends.

Following his fourth visit to the Palestinian territory since the war erupted on October 7, the UNRWA chief said many residents are no longer able to see "the future in the Gaza Strip".

"You have hundreds of thousands of people living now in the street, living in these plastic makeshift (tents), sleeping on the concrete," Lazzarini told journalists in Jerusalem.

More than 20 humanitarian groups have expressed serious concern about the military escalation in Yemen, warning it will delay shipments and push up prices in the heavily aid-dependent country.

After weeks of Huthi rebel attacks on Israel-linked shipping disrupted traffic in the Red Sea, US and British forces struck a series of targets in Yemen, prompting further exchanges this week.

Kfir Bibas, with his red hair and pink stuffed elephant, was less than nine months old when Hamas militants snatched him from his bed in an Israeli kibbutz on October 7.

The youngest hostage to be kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist group was born on January 18 and -- if still alive -- would be celebrating his first birthday this week.

His family marked the occasion with a cake and candles at kibbutz Nir Oz.

In November, Hamas broadcast a video announcing the death of the baby, his brother and mother.

The Israeli army said troops reached the southernmost point of their ground invasion of Gaza so far on Thursday as they intensified operations across the south of the Palestinian territory.

As fears rise that the Israel-Hamas war will escalate, tensions flared in the wider region following Pakistani strikes in Iran and new US military action targeting Iran-backed Yemeni rebels.

In Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city, the army said its Givati Brigade was "fighting in the southernmost area that ground troops have operated in so far".

Israeli forces killed 10 people in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up.

Five people were killed inside Tulkarem refugee camp, the ministry said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society and an official at the camp said Israeli strikes had killed multiple people.

"The camp is besieged by aircraft and heavy numbers of the Israeli army, and tanks," Faisal Salama told AFP.

The Israeli army said it killed a top Palestinian militant in an air strike in the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, averting a "terrorist attack" he was planning.

Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal had been responsible for a "number of terrorist attacks" over the past year, including one in annexed east Jerusalem, the army said.

He was "eliminated in a precision air strike," it said in a statement that had a video link showing the strike on a vehicle.