The statement from Defence Minister Israel Katz's office came after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages, and said it would be unable to retrieve any more bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialised equipment.

Hamas negotiators held discussions Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding that the group needed "two or three days at most" to respond.

The Lebanese government is set to discuss on Friday an army plan to disarm Hezbollah, which the Iran-backed group opposes, accusing the cabinet of playing into the hands of Israel and the United States.

Hezbollah's chief on Monday doubled down on his refusal to give up the group's weapons ahead of talks between Lebanese officials and visiting US envoys after Lebanon's government opted to disarm the Iran-backed militants.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem vowed Friday to fight government plans to disarm his group, with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accusing him of making "unacceptable" threats to unleash civil war.

Lebanese leaders firmly rejected any efforts at foreign interference during a visit by Iran's security chief Wednesday, with the prime minister saying Beirut would "tolerate neither tutelage nor diktat" after Tehran voiced opposition to plans to disarm Hezbollah.

Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's top security body, met with senior officials in Iraq on Monday, ahead of a visit to Lebanon, where the government plans to disarm Tehran-backed group Hezbollah.

Iran opposes the Lebanese government's decision to disarm the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah, a senior adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said Saturday according to the Tasnim news agency.

With Washington pressing Lebanon to take action on the matter, US envoy Tom Barrack has made several visits to Beirut in recent weeks, presenting officials with a proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament.

Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of bloody attacks on Turkish soil that sparked a conflict that cost more than 40,000 lives.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm

Hamas has informed the mediators that it is willing to agree to any proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the entry of aid.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which 191 signatories review every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The nations have been gathered at UN headquarters in New York since August 1 participating in a...

It is totally unacceptable for states in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of a nuclear war, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said early on Saturday in Japan at a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.