US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East yesterday hoping to deliver the ceasefire that President Joe Biden proposed last month, in an all-out push by Washington to secure an end to the Gaza offensive.

Israeli forces pounded eastern and southern Gaza anew yesterday, a day after killing 274 Palestinians during a hostage rescue raid, and tanks advanced into further areas of Rafah in a bid to seal off part of the southern city, residents and Hamas media said.

Iran yesterday announced the six candidates, mostly conservatives, approved for the June 28 election to replace president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said yesterday they targeted three ships off the country’s coast with missiles and drones after maritime security firms said two vessels had caught fire after being hit by projectiles.

India’s Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister yesterday for a third straight term, a rare feat that will also come with new challenges as the populist leader is forced to rely on allies to form a government. Here are some key issues Modi will need to tackle in office.

The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to housing has rebuked countries he accused of bias on Israel’s offensive on Gaza following a deadly attack by Tel Aviv on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the enclave.

Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza yesterday while over 200 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in the same area, according to Hamas officials, in one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults of the war.

An alliance of mostly Muslim-majority countries including Turkey, Egypt and Iran yesterday demanded full Palestinian membership of the United Nations and greater international pressure on Israel amid the Gaza war.

With no sign of progress in mediators’ arduous efforts to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza offensive, Israeli tanks and warplanes blasted central and southern areas of the enclave overnight, killing at least 23 Palestinians, local medics said yesterday.

Saudi Arabia said the hajj will start on June 14 after astronomical observatories spotted the crescent moon Thursday evening, signalling the beginning of the month in which the annual pilgrimage falls.

Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis said they had launched attacks on three ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea - though shipping giant Maersk MAERSKb.CO dismissed the militants’ report that the targets included one of its vessels.

Every time a plane flies overhead, Mohanad al-Sindawy shudders. It takes him a moment to remember he isn’t in Gaza anymore and that no one is bombing the Egyptian capital.

Every time a plane flies overhead, Mohanad al-Sindawy shudders. It takes him a moment to remember he isn’t in Gaza anymore and that no one is bombing the Egyptian capital.

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday the sighting of the Dhul Hijjah crescent, signalling the beginning of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, one of the holiest months in the Islamic calendar, reports Al Arabiya

Israel yesterday announced a new military campaign against Hamas in central Gaza where Palestinian medics said dozens of people had been killed in airstrikes, complicating expected talks between mediators to try to finalise a ceasefire deal.

Qatar, which has been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas, stressed yesterday that there should be a clear position from both parties to reach a ceasefire deal.

Forced displacement has pushed over a million Palestinians away from the Gaza city of Rafah, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said yesterday.

Some 55 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since the Israeli offensive began in the Palestinian territory eight months ago, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.

Britain, France and Germany will seek to censure Iran over its lack of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog at its board meeting starting today despite US opposition, diplomats told AFP

An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday confirmed that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza offensive now being advanced by US President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work.