Spotlight
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, headed by firebrand politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, will rejoin the Israeli government, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud movement said on Tuesday.
"Likud and Otzma Yehudit have agreed that the Otzma Yehudit faction will return to the Israeli government today, and the ministers of Otzma Yehudit will return to the government," said the statement, issued after the deadliest Israeli strikes on Gaza since a January ceasefire. Otzma Yehudit, meaning Jewish power, resigned in January in protest at the truce.
Full StoryIsrael will fight on in Gaza for "as long as the hostages are not returned", Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday after Israel resumed air strikes on the battered territory.
"We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved," Katz said. Apart from the release of the remaining hostages, Israel's other main war aim is to crush Hamas.

A Hamas official told AFP Tuesday that the group was "working with mediators to curb the aggression", after Israel unleashed its deadliest strikes since a ceasefire took effect in January.
"Hamas adhered to the ceasefire agreement and implemented it precisely, but the Israeli occupation reneged on its commitment and reversed it by resuming aggression and war," the official told AFP, adding that "Hamas and the resistance factions are in constant session to assess the situation and working with mediators to curb the aggression." So far, Hamas has not responded to the Israeli strikes.

Hamas on Tuesday named the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, among a list of officials it said were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory.
"These leaders, along with their families, were martyred after being directly targeted by the Zionist occupation forces' aircraft," said the Hamas statement, which also named interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, director-general of the internal security service, among those killed.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.

Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday claimed their third attack on American warships in 48 hours, despite U.S. strikes on the Iran-backed rebels that have sparked mass protests organized by the group.
The rebels also condemned Israel's wave of strikes on Gaza, which the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said killed at least 330 people, vowing to escalate their own operations in support of ally Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to dismiss a top security official has threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis, with opponents on Monday organizing protests and a former court president warning against the "dangerous" move.
Netanyahu on Sunday cited an "ongoing lack of trust" as the reason for moving to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, following a similar bid by the government to oust the attorney general.

China on Tuesday called for steps to prevent a "humanitarian disaster" in Gaza, after Israel unleashed its most intense strikes on the territory since a ceasefire.
"China is highly concerned about the current situation between Israel and Palestine," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, calling for the parties to "avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster."

The Israeli army warned Gazans Tuesday to evacuate areas near the border, after it unleashed a wave of deadly overnight strikes, the most intense since a ceasefire began in January.
In a post on X, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a warning to residents "specifically in the neighborhoods of Beit Hanoun, Khirbet Khuza'a, Abasan al-Kabira and Al-Jadida". "These designated areas are considered dangerous combat zones... For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the known shelters in western Gaza City and those in Khan Yunis," the post said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that he will hold Iran directly responsible for any future attacks by Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels, who have targeted U.S. and other foreign ships in the Red Sea.
