Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed a missile attack Thursday against Israel, which said it intercepted the threat and struck back before warning the Iran-backed movement it would "pay a heavy price".

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's population centers, have repeatedly launched missiles at Israel since the Gaza war broke out more than a year ago.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday he was the target of a "profound injustice" after France's top court upheld a corruption case verdict requiring him to wear an electronic tag for a year.

Sarkozy, writing on X, also maintained his "perfect innocence" and said he expected the European Court of Human Rights to find France at fault in the case, adding that "this could have been avoided if I had benefitted from a level-headed legal analysis".

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat will travel Saturday with a delegation to Syria to meet with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani who now prefers to be called Ahmad al-Sharaa, a local media outlet said.

Al-Jadeed TV channel said Jubmlat, along with MPs from the Democratic Gathering bloc and Druze religious figures, will congratulate al-Sharaa for ousting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Russia's defense ministry Wednesday claimed the capture of two new settlements in the Donetsk region of east Ukraine as Moscow's troops advance.

The ministry said in a daily briefing that its forces had "liberated" Stari Terny and Trudove, both located near the industrial town of Kurakhove that Russia is seeking to capture.

International Organization for Migration chief Amy Pope said Tuesday the U.N. agency was not advising the large-scale return of people to Syria before the situation in the country has stabilized.

"People have the right to return home... but we are not advising any sort of large-scale return... the system can’t bear that kind of influx," Pope told AFP during a visit to Lebanon, adding that "absent an investment in Syria itself... sending people back will only destabilize the country further and will likely create pressures for people to migrate out again".

The leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Tuesday proposed a "demilitarized zone" in the northern town of Kobane as fighting with Turkish-backed groups grips northern Syria.

"Reaffirming our firm commitment to achieving a comprehensive ceasefire across all of Syria, we announce our readiness to propose the establishment of a demilitarized zone in the city of Kobane, with the redeployment of security forces under American supervision and presence," Mazloum Abdi wrote on X.

Hamas said talks in Qatar on Tuesday aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were "serious and positive", a day after an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha to meet with mediators.

"Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions," the Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that his country's forces would be free to act in the Gaza Strip even after its war with Hamas ends.

"After eliminating Hamas's military and governmental capabilities in Gaza, Israel would have security control over Gaza with complete freedom of action" for the Israeli military, Katz said in a post on X, noting that it was his own "position".

A United Nations official visiting Damascus said on Tuesday there was a basis for the "ambitious scaling-up" of aid, after the country's new leaders assured the U.N. of full humanitarian access.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres earlier welcomed the "caretaker government's commitment to protect civilians" and humanitarian workers.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, said Monday that international sanctions against Damascus must be lifted if refugees displaced by the war are to return.

During a meeting with a British delegation, Jolani spoke "of the importance of restoring relations" with London, and stressed "the importance of ending all sanctions imposed on Syria so that displaced Syrians... can return to their country", according to remarks reported on his group's Telegram channel.