Turkey called the interception "an act of terrorism," and on Thursday said it had opened an investigation after Israeli forces arrested Turkish citizens on board the flotilla.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, also carrying prominent pro-Palestinian advocates including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, set sail for Gaza earlier this month from Tunisia after repeated delays.

Saudi Arabia has spent months courting Syria's new leaders, aiming to draw closer a country long dominated by Iran and Russia.

Damascus, Syria -- Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday humanitarian projects for Syria including the removal of wartime rubble around Damascus, weeks after inking investment deals worth billions to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. The oil-rich Gulf kingdom has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which came to...

The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to "open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people", said the Global Sumud Flotilla. They did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure.

Hamas called on Friday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the lifting of the Israeli siege on the territory after the UN declared a famine in parts of Gaza

"While 994 were killed in the vicinity of GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites, 766 were killed along the routes of supply convoys. Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," UNRWA said.

According to the joint letter, whose signatories include Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at least 60 requests to bring aid into Gaza were rejected in July alone.

The London-based group also called for the "recognition of the State of Palestine", but added "this will not halt the unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza".

In response, Hamas's armed wing said it would allow the agency access to the hostages but only if "humanitarian corridors" for food and aid were opened "across all areas of the Gaza Strip".

Nearly 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip while waiting for aid since May 27, the majority by the Israeli army, the United Nations said.

In the quiet Galilee village of Julis, Israeli Druze volunteers are busy collecting food donations and gathering information to support members of the minority community in Syria reeling from deadly sectarian violence

The visit by Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to US-backed aid points

"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative, a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises, stopped short of declaring a state of famine, but made clear the situation is critical.

Mediators have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar for more than two weeks, but the indirect talks have so far failed to yield an elusive truce.

There are frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people seeking aid, with Gaza's civil defence agency saying 10 Palestinians were killed Friday while waiting at a distribution point near the southern city of Rafah.

Like most women at the Gaza City hospital where she attends her pregnancy check-ups, Fatima Arafa's face looks fatigued, a sign of the malnutrition affecting her due to wartime shortages.

"This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed," said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.

The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.

"Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded," said Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

Israel's defence minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block two pro-Palestinian activist convoys planning to head to Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

The Gaza civil defence agency said Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a US-backed food distribution centre on Wednesday, killing 31 and wounding "about 200".

Tel Aviv, Israel - Campaigner Greta Thunberg arrived home in Sweden late Tuesday, after Israel detained her and other activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid boat and deported some. Of the 12 activists on board the Madleen, which was carrying food and supplies for Gaza, four including Thunberg agreed to be deported...

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and other activists detained aboard a Gaza-bound aid boat have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation, Israel said Tuesday, after their vessel was intercepted by naval forces.

The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has referred to as the "hungriest place on Earth", with the entire population at risk of famine.

I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement from his office. "Turn back because you will not reach Gaza," Katz added, calling the activists "Hamas propaganda mouthpieces".

Cairo, Egypt - An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is nearing Gaza, having reached the Egyptian coast, organisers said Saturday. The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies "to break Israel's blockade...

Paris, France -- French anti-terror prosecutors have opened probes into "complicity in genocide" and "incitement to genocide" after French-Israelis allegedly blocked aid intended for war-torn Gaza last year, they said on Friday. The two investigations, opened after legal complaints, were also to look into possible "complicity in crimes against humanity"...

Cries of grief echoed across southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital Monday as dozens came to mourn Hossam Wafi, after the father of six was killed while attempting to get supplies to feed his family.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people and wounded 176 near the aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah.

"At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others... were wounded due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens" approaching the US aid site west of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March, ending a six-week truce.

A controversial US-backed aid group for Gaza announced Monday that it had begun distributing food in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, and decried Hamas "death threats" against organizations supporting its operations.

"For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid," Guterres said. "The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.

Aid to Gaza has been cut off since March 2, a tactic Israel has said is intended to force concessions from Hamas, but the group insisted on Thursday that the restoration of humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory was "the minimum requirement" for talks.

Israel would not be involved in food distribution under a US-led plan for the Gaza Strip but would provide "necessary military security", Washington's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Friday.

Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.

"We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza, because if we don't do something about it we are complicit in what is happening," WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan told reporters in Geneva.

"As the complete blockade of assistance essential for survival enters its ninth week, there must be concerted international efforts to stop this humanitarian catastrophe from reaching a new, unseen level," Volker Turk said in a statement. Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians...

The World Food Programme says it has run out of food in Gaza, warning that hot meal kitchens—Gaza’s last major source of aid—will shut down in the coming days.

After 18 months of war, the situation in Gaza "is probably the worst" now, the United Nations' humanitarian agency OCHA said on Tuesday. WFP, one of the main providers of food assistance in Gaza, said it had "delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza...

Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday called on Israel to stop blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death".

The new US ambassador to Israel on Monday called on Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a deal that would secure the release of hostages, in exchange for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Meanwhile, a video recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers shows their final moments, with clearly marked ambulances and emergency lights flashing as heavy gunfire erupts.

President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a US official told AFP, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia. The move comes just days after a stunning public clash at the White House between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is...

The statement came a day after US President Donald Trump said he could "conceivably" halt aid to Egypt and Jordan if they refuse to cooperate with his plan to take over the Gaza Strip and displace its population to their countries.

Gaza, Palestine - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), confirmed today that the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip exceeds the agency's capabilities due to the severe damage and destruction that has befallen all aspects of life in the Strip, Palestinian News and Information Agency-WAFA...