Jihadists and their Turkish-backed allies reached Syria’s second city of Aleppo yesterday, as they pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would do “everything” to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon after Iran’s top diplomat warned it could end its ban on developing one if Western sanctions are reimposed.

The Gaza Strip has descended into anarchy, with hunger soaring, looting rampant and rising numbers of rapes in shelters as public order falls apart, the United Nations said yesterday.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight and yesterday in the Gaza Strip, many of them in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the centre of the enclave, medics said, after Israeli tanks pulled back from parts of the camp.

A general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was killed in Syria yesterday during fighting between Syrian government forces and jihadists, an Iranian news agency reported.

Hezbollah and Israel traded accusations that their ceasefire had been breached yesterday, a day after a truce went into effect halting more than a year of fighting in Lebanon.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 21 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip yesterday, medics said, as forces stepped up their bombardment of central areas and tanks pushed deeper into the north and south of the enclave.

After almost 14 months of fighting, a ceasefire agreement brokered by France and the US has been accepted by both Hezbollah and Israel. But is this the end of the conflict?

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah held yesterday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in the Middle East wracked by two wars for over a year.

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 15 people yesterday, some of them in a school housing displaced people, medics in Gaza said, adding that the fatalities included two sons of a former Hamas spokesman.

The accord clears the way for an end to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year

Israeli war planes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs with a wave of airstrikes yesterday just before Israel’s cabinet met to discuss a ceasefire deal with its Hezbollah foes.

Israel's security cabinet is expected to convene later on Tuesday to likely approve a text at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior Israeli official said.

UN’s Palestinian refugee agency has said half a million people are threatened by sewage flood amid Gaza’s rainy season, and cold temperatures will take a toll on thousands of malnourished people.

Israel’s security cabinet was preparing to decide whether to accept a proposed ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah, an official said yesterday, as the White House announced it believed a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon was “close”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the emerging ceasefire deal with Hezbollah "in principle" during a security consultation with Israeli officials on Sunday night, a source familiar with the matter said

Israel’s army said Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into its territory from Lebanon yesterday, with the group saying its attacks had targeted the Tel Aviv area and Israel’s south.

Israel’s military said yesterday it had killed two Hamas commanders, pressing its north Gaza offensive a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants over the offensive.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday praised the “courageous decision” of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 120 Palestinians over the last 48 hours and hit a hospital on the northern edge of the enclave, wounding medical staff and damaging equipment, Palestinian medics said yesterday.