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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.

Beirut, Lebanon - The once unthinkable disarmament of Hezbollah could finally be within reach, as the United States pushes Lebanon to act and applies pressure to the group's backer Iran over its nuclear programme, analysts said. Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel,...

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron over his plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing a hostage alive in Gaza, whom Israeli media widely identified as Israeli-American Edan Alexander

A Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday that it was "necessary to reach a ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, three weeks after Israel resumed bombardments on the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, becoming the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

Budapest, Hungary -- Hungary on Thursday said it will quit the International Criminal Court, just as its Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the tribunal has accused of war crimes in Gaza. Hungary's announcement that it will start the year-long withdrawal process came as Orban welcomed...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest early Thursday on his first trip to Europe since 2023 and in defiance of the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant against him.

The message was sent to the UN Security Council in a letter by Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani which condemned what he called "warmongering provocations".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Wednesday to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas did not release hostages, while the militant group warned they would return "in coffins" if Israel did not stop bombing the Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Israel's internal security chief, whose dismissal was blocked by the supreme court, of investigating far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir without his consent.

The warning came as Israel stepped up the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm that had reigned in the war-battered territory since a January 19 ceasefire.

Hamas has not responded militarily so far, and in a statement urged friendly countries to "pressure" the United States to bring to an end the strikes by its ally Israel.

In a statement, Hamas said "Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate".

In a statement, Netanyahu's office said that Israel had accepted an invitation from US-backed mediators and would "send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations".

The prospect of the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing Gaza remains far from certain, however, with Israel having ruled out any future role for the body, and Trump having closed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) liaison office in Washington during his first term while stepping up support for Israel.

Despite ceasefire negotiations, Gaza’s humanitarian situation remains critical, with markets facing inflation, displaced residents lacking proper shelter, and aid workers warning that food and medical assistance should remain separate from political talks.

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday thanked US President Donald Trump for sending munitions held up by the previous administration, which would help "finish the job against Iran's terror axis". Netanyahu has long expressed his opposition to Iran, its nuclear programme and its proxies, which include...

Truce mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of blatantly violating the ceasefire deal by halting the aid, a move left trucks loaded with goods lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to Gaza.

The first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas was set to expire over the weekend without any certainty as to the second phase, which is hoped to bring a more permanent end to the Gaza war.

Washington, United States  - President Donald Trump closed out a packed week at the White House after hosting a string of eager-to-please guests, and generating the usual eye-popping menu of news items. 'Did I say that?' Last week, Trump branded elected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" -- but things...

Israeli authorities received four hostage bodies from Hamas, while Palestinian prisoners were welcomed in Ramallah, as ceasefire negotiations involving Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. move forward.

In a statement on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "committed to US President Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza", also promising that after the war, "there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority" ruling the territory.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have pledged to "open the gates of hell" on Hamas and "finish the job" against Iran

Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier that "I would own it" and that there could be as many as six different sites for Palestinians to live outside Gaza -- under the plan which the Arab world has rejected.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare a plan for voluntary" departures from Gaza, saying Palestinians could leave for "any country willing to accept them.

Trump has floated a controversial plan to relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries, but Egypt, Jordan, and ceasefire mediator Qatar have strongly rejected any forced displacement from Gaza.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Netanyahu said, however, said he was not going to agree to end the war before they remove Hamas, adding Israel was "not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv."

The renewed war of words between the Middle East foes came as Iran prepares to hold key nuclear talks with European governments on Friday which have been overshadowed by their joining with Washington to have Tehran censured by the UN atomic watchdog.

"This murder was carried out in the UAE. The murder of an Israeli citizen and a Chabad emissary, is an abhorrent anti-Semitic terrorist attack," Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting. Israeli officials did not provide any details about the circumstances of Kogan's murder.

Tel Aviv, Israel - A plane bringing Israeli football supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel's Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as "anti-Semitic". Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a Europa League...

In a unique campaign twist, Trump captured Muslim voters by pledging diplomacy, promising to end prolonged conflicts and promote stability, despite his controversial past record in the Middle East region.