The announcement was met with a firm rebuttal from Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel "firmly rejects, with contempt" the charges, calling them "the latest PR stunt by the tyrant (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan".

Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire, as Israeli forces withdraw after the end of two years of brutal fighting against Hamas, an international force, expected to be drawn from mainly Arab or Muslim countries, is supposed to secure Gaza.

Despite concerns in Israel that Hamas has seized on the pause to reassert itself in Gaza, Vance said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered deal.

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 plan calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, disarmament of Hamas and gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

He repeated "very confident" when asked if all parties were on board with the 21-point plan to end the nearly two-year war, free hostages held by Hamas and disarm the Palestinian armed groups.

While the plan offers several concessions to Palestinians, it also carries provisions favorable to Israel — including Hamas’ demilitarisation and programs to “de-radicalise” Gaza’s population.

The meeting comes days after Trump unveiled a 21-point plan aimed at ending the war in the Palestinian territory during discussions with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Netanyahu, who said his speech was being partially broadcast on Israeli military loudspeakers in Gaza, vowed to "finish the job" against Hamas even as President Donald Trump said he thought he had sealed a deal on a ceasefire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had created the possibility for peace with neighbouring Lebanon and Syria.

Before departing Washington on Saturday, Rubio told reporters that while Trump was "not happy" about the strike, it was "not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis".

Israel has said it intends to capture the territory's largest urban centre, which it describes as one of the last strongholds of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu said at the event in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem.

srael's internal security service said on Wednesday it had foiled a plot by Palestinian militant group Hamas to kill far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upbraided President Emmanuel Macron in a letter seen by AFP on Tuesday, blaming the French leader's move to recognise a Palestinian state for fuelling antisemitism.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has become a "problem", adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war as her country currently holds the EU presidency.

For Palestinians, any effort to force them off their land would recall the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday a plan to allow more foreign journalists to report inside Gaza with the military, as he laid out his vision for victory in the territory during a rare press conference.

UN says 'if these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings and destruction.'

Demonstrators waved signs and held up pictures of hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory as they called on the government to secure their release.

"Netanyahu's plans to escalate the aggression confirm beyond any doubt his desire to get rid of the captives and sacrifice them in pursuit of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda," Hamas said in a statement.

"We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas," the Israeli PM told Fox News.

The Israeli press, citing officials, has predicted an escalation of operations, including in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, such as Gaza City and refugee camps.

Israeli media said the premier was considering ordering the total occupation of the Palestinian territory, with public broadcaster Kan reporting that "Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip."

His statement came after hundreds of retired Israeli security chiefs wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge him to convince Netanyahu to end the war.

Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha

Russia, a close ally of Syria's former long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad, who reportedly fled to Moscow with his family, still has two military bases in the country, and is also close to Iran, having boosted military ties amid the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine.

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.

Netanyahu said the Islamist militants must first give up their weapons and their hold on the Palestinian territory, warning that failure to reach a deal on Israel's terms would lead to further conflict.

Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu met for the second time in 24 hours Tuesday as the US president intensified the pressure on the Israeli prime minister to reach a deal to end the "tragedy" of the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalize on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran.

Netanyahu has come under strong pressure to get the hostages back after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Palestinian militant group Hamas that could lead to their release.

The intensified operations came after days of mounting calls for a ceasefire, with US President Donald Trump -- whom Netanyahu is scheduled to meet next week -- among those urging Israel to strike a new deal to halt the war and bring home the hostages still held in Gaza.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operating last month and has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations, "is degrading Palestinians by design, forcing them to choose between starvation or risking their lives."

Israel's foreign minister said Friday the world was obliged to stop Iran developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had "thwarted Iran's nuclear project" in a 12-day war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday insisted gains in the conflict against Iran would help with the country's war footing in Gaza and bringing the hostages home but said "more time" was needed.

The US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack warned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Thursday against getting involved in the war between its main backer Iran and Israel.

The White House said Trump would receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday and top US diplomat Marco Rubio meanwhile will meet his UK counterpart for talks expected to focus on the conflict.

Air raids sirens and explosions rang out across Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the airwaves to warn he expected "several waves of Iranian attacks" in response.

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.

In a key sticking point, Iran has insisted on the right to enrich uranium at low levels for civilian use -- as allowed under a 2015 deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama which Trump tore up in his first White House term.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court including over an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it ramped up pressure to neuter the court of last resort.

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel's ambassador to Washington is being summoned home on the instructions of a government disciplinary body to discuss comments he made in a podcast interview, the foreign ministry said Sunday. Ambassador Yechiel Leiter had made an appearance on a podcast run by the right-wing US online media...

Their solidarity came to the fore on Wednesday, when Austria and Germany broke ranks with European Union peers to argue against a review ordered by Brussels of an EU-Israel cooperation deal.

After more than two months of a total blockade, the World Health Organization issued a stark warning on the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip, saying "two million people are starving".

Tehran, Iran - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to drag the United States into "disaster" in the Middle East, warning against any attempt to attack Iran. "Netanyahu is directly MEDDLING within the US Government to DRAG it into another DISASTER...

Israel's internal security chief, whom the government is trying to sack, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday of demanding personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters, drawing a sharp rebuke from the long-time leader.

The Palestinian militants' chief negotiator spoke out after civil defence rescuers in Gaza said new Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people, most of them in camps for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered security chiefs and negotiators to keep pressing for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, where Israel resumed air and ground attacks on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.