Aid distribution in Gaza was halted on Friday after the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations, in the latest disruption to its troubled relief effort.

Thousands of pilgrims began to gather before dawn around the hill and the surrounding plain

More than a million pilgrims participated in Islam’s most important rite under a scorching sun yesterday as the hajj pilgrimage began.

More than 1.4 million Muslims will begin the annual hajj pilgrimage in the Saudi holy city of Makkah today.

The Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen yesterday after air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and other cities.

Gaza is “the hungriest place on Earth”, the United Nations said yesterday, warning that the Palestinian territory’s entire population was now at risk of famine.

The Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday evening after air raid sirens sounded in the centre of the country and explosions were heard over Jerusalem.

Iran said it had held consular meetings with the cleric since his arrest on Monday after a video circulated online showing him criticising the Saudi government

Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, the judiciary said yesterday.

Israel’s military said yesterday it had intercepted a missile and another projectile fired from Yemen, which Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they had fired.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian yesterday began a two-day visit to Oman, which is mediating ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

The crescent moon was sighted in the Kingdom this evening

Egypt has flown 71 nationals home from the Libyan capital Tripoli after deadly clashes between rival militias rocked the city earlier this month, the foreign ministry said.

The United Arab Emirates recorded a sweltering 50.4 degrees Celsius yesterday, its highest temperature for May since it began documenting them in 2003, according to the National Center of Meteorology.

The Iranian parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership treaty with Russia yesterday, state media reported, consolidating closer ties between the two countries amid growing tensions with the West.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike yesterday wounded nine people in the country’s south, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

Iran and Azerbaijan have launched a joint special forces exercise, state media in the Islamic republic said yesterday, weeks after Iran’s president visited the neighbouring country.

Israeli strikes killed at least 130 Palestinians across Gaza overnight, health officials said yesterday, as Israel said talks with Hamas included a proposal to end the war but sources on both sides said there had been no progress in the talks.

Arab leaders meeting at a summit in Baghdad yesterday urged the international community to press for a Gaza ceasefire, as Israel launched an expanded military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israel and Hamas yesterday resumed ceasefire talks in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.