Gaza health officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven people on Tuesday, including five in one attack, in the latest violence to hit the territory despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Huge numbers of Muslims prayed on Mount Arafat yesterday at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage.

Over 1.5 million Muslims began filling a vast tent city in the holy city of Makkah yesterday for an annual hajj pilgrimage carried out against the backdrop of hopes for an end to the war in the Middle East.

Hospitals in Gaza are being prevented from functioning properly due to a severe shortage of medical supplies, the World Health Organization warned yesterday, denouncing Israeli restrictions on essential items.

Dhul Hijjah crescent moon sighted

But Israel has been pounding Lebanon and invaded its south in response to fire from Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces now control 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, suggesting troops have expanded into more of the Palestinian territory than set out in an October ceasefire plan.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was located off the small Gulf island's west coast

An Israeli strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley killed four people yesterday, while the Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah targets in the south, after warning residents of a dozen towns to evacuate.

More than 4,000 people are meanwhile estimated to have been arrested on national security-related grounds

The United Arab Emirates will withdraw from the OPEC and OPEC+ oil cartels to focus on “national interests”, it announced on Tuesday, causing fresh shockwaves as energy prices soar over the Middle East war.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday said Iran’s leadership was humiliating the United States and getting US officials to travel to Pakistan and then leave without results, in an unusually abrupt rebuke over the conflict.

Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah area

Netanyahu delayed release of his medical report

The US State Department said that the ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday entails a committment by Beirut to prevent any Hezbollah attacks.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he "welcomes" US President Donald Trump's announcement of a 10-day ceasefire with Israel, which was due to start at 2100 GMT on Thursday evening

Announces that the two countries have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting on Thursday, though it was unclear whether Iran-backed Hezbollah was on board

The meeting could take place soon though dates have yet to be confirmed, the source said.

Israel has approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports and the watchdog Peace Now, which said the decision was taken “secretly” in early April.

A Bangladeshi expatriate worker was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Embassy in the Lebanese capital said yesterday.