Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's group and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the Gaza war

Hassan Nasrallah - whose powerful Iran-backed group has exchanged near-daily fire with Israel since its ally Hamas's October 7 attack - also threatened the nearby island nation of Cyprus if it opened its airports or bases to Israel "to target Lebanon".

Palestinian Territories - The Israeli army on Tuesday said plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated" amid escalating cross-border clashes with Hizbollah and a relative lull in Gaza fighting.The war in Gaza has heightened tensions across the region, with Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbollah, a Hamas...

Witnesses reported gunfire and artillery shelling near Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where the civil defence agency said at least 13 people died in two separate strikes on a family home and on a commercial building. Al-Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of "six martyrs...

The military said the soldiers were killed when the Namer armored vehicle they were travelling in exploded near Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, where troops are engaged in fierce street battles. There was no immediate word on what triggered the blast.

On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a US-drafted resolution supporting the plan, and on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said G7 leaders "call on Hamas in particular to give the necessary consent". Some Gazans have also called on Hamas to do more to secure an agreement

Beirut, Lebanon -- Hezbollah said it fired a new wave of rockets and drones at the Israeli army on Thursday, after an Israeli strike killed one of its senior commanders.It was Hezbollah's largest simultaneous attack in near-daily cross-border fire between it and the Israeli army since its ally Hamas's October 7...

Doha, Qatar - Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a truce and hostage release deal to end the Gaza war was still possible, wrapping up a Middle East tour as deadly fighting rocked the Palestinian territory.Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, rained rockets on northern Israel, a day...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Wednesday to talks in key mediator Qatar after Hamas gave a reply to a US-led proposal for a ceasefire in war-ravaged Gaza.Blinken, on a four-country swing around the Middle East to push Hamas to accept the truce proposal, will meet the...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with key Israeli opposition figures on Tuesday, a day after he arrived in the country to push a ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza.His visit is part of a drive by the United States to secure a ceasefire in the...

New York, United States - Intel is halting the expansion of a major factory project in Israel, which was going to pump an extra $15 billion towards a chip plant.The chip giant in December said it was going to expand an ongoing $10 billion plan at the Kiryat Gat site, in...

The Israeli military said it shot at a group of four people who attempted to flee in a vehicle and tried to "run over forces" when Israeli police went to Kfar Naima to arrest a suspect. One Israeli officer was lightly hurt, an army statement said.

The text of the resolution "welcomes" the truce and hostage release proposal announced on May 31 by President Joe Biden, and "urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition." Unlike earlier drafts, the resolution states that Israel has "accepted" the US ceasefire proposal.

Blinken said his message to regional governments was that "if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes" to the proposal.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan, but Israeli politics and silence from Hamas raised further questions on whether he can succeed.The top US diplomat is paying his eighth visit to the region since the war broke...

Israel's army said Sunday that a senior commander had resigned over what he called his failure to prevent the October 7 attack by Palestinian fighters. "The commander of the 143rd Division, Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, informed his commanders today of his intention to end his service in the (Israeli army),"...

In a new diplomatic push, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and key regional partners Egypt, Jordan and Qatar from Monday on his eighth Middle East trip since the war began, the State Department said.

"The government of Israel has said that they are going to release more information about this strike, including the names of those who died in it. We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in months of negotiations over details for a ceasefire in Gaza. But except for a seven-day break in hostilities beginning in November that led to the release of more than 100 hostages, the mediation efforts have not stopped the fighting.

Jerusalem, Undefined -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel was "prepared for a very intense operation" along the border with Lebanon, where Israeli troops have exchanged near-daily fire with Hezbollah fighters.Almost eight months of exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified over the past week, with Israel striking...

Hamas had told mediators it "cannot agree to a deal that doesn't that does not secure... a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the achievement of a serious, real captive exchange deal", he said.

An Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in Lebanon killed one person and wounded another, according to the National News Agency (NNA). It did not say whether the casualties were civilians or fighters

The Syrian Ministry of Defence said in a statement that "after midnight... the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the southeast of Aleppo, targeting some positions" near the city, adding that "the aggression caused several martyrs and material damage".

Deir El-Balah, Palestinian Territories -- Amira al-Taweel scoured pharmacies in northern Gaza for milk to feed her child but could not find a single bottle to satisfy his hunger."Youssef needs treatment and milk, but there' none available in Gaza," the 33-year-old mother told AFP at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza...

The US president urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer. "It's time for this war to end, for the day after to begin," he said, in comments echoed by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Hamas in a statement on Friday evening said it "considers positively" Biden's speech regarding "a permanent...

In central Gaza, the Israeli army said it was "intensifying operations" and had carried out air strikes that "eliminated several terrorists" operating near Israeli troops.

Israel said on Wednesday its forces had taken over the 14-kilometre Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border

A car ramming attack killed two Israeli soldiers near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said early Thursday.The army had earlier reported a car-ramming attack on Wednesday near an Israeli settlement outside Nablus.It later identified them as soldiers Eliya Hilel and Diego Shvisha Harsaj,...

"In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won't be a day after. And this is where we need to go, and (what) we need to get, as quickly as possible," Blinken told reporters on a visit to Moldova. Such a plan would ensure that Israel is...

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group identified him as Alexander (Sasha) Trupanov, and called on the Israeli authorities to secure the release of all captives held in Gaza. It was unclear when the footage, in which he is seen wearing a T-shirt, was taken.

Rafah, Palestinian Territories -- Hundreds braved roads in Rafah in south Gaza Tuesday as they fled Israel's expanding ground assault, with increased shelling, tanks in the city center, and forces positioned on higher ground."We are panicking and afraid," 40-year-old Ihab Zorob of west Rafah told AFP."Our children and wives haven't stopped...

Israel launched its controversial assault on Rafah earlier this month, dismissing concerns for the safety of the 1.4 million Palestinian civilians then sheltering in the city

Al-Qahera News, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, quoted a defence official as saying an initial probe of the shooting incident indicated that Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters had exchanged fire, "which led to shooting in several directions".

The plans were unveiled last week in a coordinated announcement by their prime ministers, with formal recognition to take place in all three countries on Tuesday. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will give an address at 0630 GMT before his cabinet meets to adopt a decree recognizing Palestinian statehood.

The UN called on Israel to conduct a "thorough and transparent" investigation into the Rafah strike, as the Israeli military said it was launching a probe into civilian deaths. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that "these operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian...

The armed wing of Hamas said it had taken "prisoner" at least one Israeli soldier in an ambush on Saturday. The Palestinian group targeted Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabalia camp and "all their members were killed, wounded or taken prisoner," said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine...

Djerba, Tunisia - Only a dozen pilgrims turned up Friday at this year's Jewish pilgrimage on Tunisia's island of Djerba amid heightened security concerns after a deadly attack last year and as the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza.The pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue, Africa's oldest, usually draws thousands of pilgrims...

The International Court of Justice also demanded the immediate release of all hostages still held by Palestinian militants, hours after the Israeli military announced troops had recovered the bodies of three more of the captives from north Gaza. The Hague-based court, whose orders are legally binding but lack direct enforcement...

Palestinian Territories - Israel launched devastating air strikes on Gaza Thursday, while also expressing readiness to resume stalled talks on a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas to pause the war raging since October 7.The Gaza Strip's civil defence agency said two pre-dawn air strikes had killed 26 people,...

Israel reacted with fury after three European countries said Wednesday they would recognize a Palestinian state, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.Ireland, Norway and Spain said they would formally recognize the State of Palestine on May 28.The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) says European recognition was 'historical'.A senior...

North Gaza's last two functioning hospitals, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, are barely operational, doctors and the World Health Organization said Tuesday with the Israel-Hamas war now in its eighth month.Hospital officials said Israeli forces had fired on the facilities and that snipers had been deployed near one of them."Today marks...

After shutting down offices and confiscating equipment of the Al Jazeera news channel in Israel, Netanyahu's government has shut down the video feed services of the American news agency Associated Press (AP). The United States and United Nations have expressed concern and shock over the Israeli move, while AP and...

Washington, United States - Amal Clooney helped the International Criminal Court weigh evidence that led to the decision to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders, the human rights lawyer said Monday.The high-profile British-Lebanese barrister posted a statement on the website of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which she founded with...

Karim Khan said he was seeking warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes including "starvation", "willful killing", and "extermination and/or murder". The ICC is the world's only independent court set up to probe the gravest offences including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has also fought and bombed resurgent Hamas forces in northern and central areas of the coastal territory previously considered to be under army control, sparking US warnings that it could become mired in a lengthy counterinsurgency campaign.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says there is a potential of Israel-Saudi normalization deal if Netanyahu alters his political strategy for the future of the Palestinian enclave.

Jerusalem, Undefined -- New divisions have emerged among Israel's leaders over post-war Gaza's governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The Israeli army has been battling Hamas across Gaza for more than seven months while also exchanging near-daily fire with...

The Israeli army said Thursday that two Thai hostages earlier believed to be alive in Gaza were killed in the October 7 attack and their bodies are being held in the Palestinian territory."We informed the families of two kidnapped Thai citizens, who worked in agriculture in the plantations near Kibbutz...

In a concluding statement following a meeting in Manama, the 22-member grouping called for "international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories" until a two-state solution is implemented.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said "additional forces will enter" the Rafah area and "this activity will intensify". "Hundreds of targets have already been struck and our forces are maneuvering in the area," Gallant said following a troop visit on Wednesday.