The US deployed a guided missile submarine to the Middle East on Monday in anticipation of an attack on Israel by Iran and Hezbollah.

The bolstering of the US military in the region comes as Israeli media reported that Israel is expecting Iran to launch a direct attack by Thursday. 

That contradicted reports last week that US pressure on Iran had managed to temper its expected response to the killing of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran.

Lloyd J Austin, the US secretary of defence, spoke to Yoav Gallant, his Israeli counterpart, on Monday morning, saying Washington was committed to taking “every possible step to defend Israel”.

Mr Austin also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to the Middle East.

The US deployed a separate warship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, to the Middle East last week as both Iran and Hezbollah threatened attacks on Israel in response to the assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut and Tehran.

Germany, the UK and France issued a joint statement on Monday morning, calling Iran and its allies to “refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions” and jeopardise a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Iran and its allies will “bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability,” the leaders of the three countries said.

Fragile ceasefire negotiations took another hit on Sunday as Hamas announced that it would not participate in the planned talks on Thursday, instead calling on Egypt, Qatar and the US to implement a ceasefire deal presented by Joe Biden in late May.

On Sunday, Mr Biden told CBS News that his plan, which was endorsed by the G7 and the UN Security Council “is still viable”, adding: “I’m working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can.”

Cairo, Doha and Washington called on Israel and Hamas to stop making excuses for not signing a ceasefire deal last week. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, instructed his negotiation team to resume talks this Thursday to “finalise” the deal.

While Israel’s military remained on high alert to defend the country against a possible major attack by Iran and its allies, operations against Hamas in Gaza continued, with the Israel Defense Forces calling on thousands of Palestinians to evacuate further from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

On Sunday, footage showed the moment an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Sheikh Radwan, a suburb of Gaza City, killing one person, according to local medics.

The IDF announced that it had struck 30 Hamas targets since Saturday, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.