A major Israeli offensive which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be aligned with the “vision of annexation” of the West Bank, a UN official told AFP.

The overall toll during this week's unrest was not immediately clear

Israel’s military said it killed a Hezbollah navy commander in an air strike Tuesday in south Lebanon, accusing the slain militant of violating a November ceasefire.

Syrian forces launched a security campaign in the coastal city of Latakia after “militia remnants” supporting ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad killed two personnel in an ambush, state media reported yesterday.

Iran's parliament sacked the country's finance minister on Sunday after impeaching him over soaring inflation and a plunging currency, state television reported

The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce is drawing to a close yesterday, but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive.

An Israeli delegation in Cairo aims to negotiate to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal by an additional 42 days, two Egyptian security sources said yesterday.

Saudi Arabia today announced that the holy month of Ramadan will commence on Saturday (March 1) after the Ramadan crescent moon was sighted in the Kingdom

Defence Minister Israel Katz said yesterday that Israeli forces would indefinitely remain in what he called a “buffer zone”, in southern Lebanon.

Iran has significantly increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in recent months, according to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen by AFP yesterday.

Palestinian militants yesterday freed five Israeli hostages, among the last living captives to be released under the first phase of a fragile truce that is also expected to see Palestinian prisoners released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out an “intensive” operation in the West Bank after explosions on buses close to Tel Aviv on Thursday, in what Netanyahu’s office described as an attempted mass attack.

Hamas yesterday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “threats” to make the Palestinian group pay after he accused it of violating the ceasefire by not returning the hostage Shiri Bibas.

A source close to the Saudi government told AFP that Arab leaders would discuss 'a reconstruction plan to counter Trump's plan for Gaza'

Iran executed at least 975 people last year in a “horrifying escalation” of its use of capital punishment, two human rights groups said yesterday.

Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday evening by Israeli forces in the al-Faraa camp near Tubas in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported.

Iranian authorities said yesterday that a British couple arrested last month in the country’s southeast had been charged with espionage and accused of links to Western intelligence services.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz yesterday confirmed that troops remain at five positions in southern Lebanon past a pullout deadline, vowing action against any truce violation by militant group Hezbollah.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dismissed on Monday President Donald Trump’s proposal to seize Gaza and force out the Palestinians, while Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said he expects Arab states to put forward a workable alternative.

Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier in the day from Israel where he began his first visit to the region as the top US diplomat