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.

Lebanon said an Israeli air strike in the heart of Beirut that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city killed at least 15 people yesterday.

Five medics were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon yesterday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The Syrian defence ministry has said 36 people were killed and more than 50 wounded yesterday in Israeli air strikes on the oasis city of Palmyra, renowned for its ancient ruins.

Jordan’s army said yesterday it sent eight helicopters loaded with more than seven tonnes of aid to Gaza, which is grappling with a humanitarian crisis after more than a year of Israeli offensive.

A blast from an explosive device yesterday killed three members of Iraq’s security forces and wounded three others in the northern province of Salaheddin, officials said.

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally indicating a sharp increase which one rights group said was unprecedented.

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of central Beirut yesterday killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman yesterday “categorically” denied The New York Times report on Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations meeting with US tech billionaire Elon Musk, state media reported.

Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Hezbollah bastions in Beirut and south Lebanon yesterday, a day after Lebanese government officials said they were studying a US truce proposal.

An Iranian court sentenced six men to death for killing a paramilitary force member during 2022 protests over a Kurdish woman’s death in custody, Fars news agency reported.