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.

The U.S. military on Tuesday said it bombed a Houthi military facility in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, the latest U.S.-led attack on the Iranian-backed rebels.

The Houthi media office said the strike hit part of the sprawling complex that houses the rebels’ Defense Ministry. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A U.S.-backed force in Syria says U.S.-led mediation efforts have failed to reach a permanent truce in Syria's north between the force's fighters and Turkish-backed gunmen.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the failure to end the fighting in the northern areas of Manbij and Kobani were unsuccessful due to Turkey’s unwillingness to accept key points.

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.

A French delegation arrived Tuesday at the country's embassy in Damascus, the first visit of diplomats from France since Bashar al-Assad's ouster by Islamist-led rebels.

Visiting French special envoy for Syria Jean-Francois Guillaume said his country was preparing to stand with Syrians during the transitional period.

After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer toward a ceasefire to end their 14-month war.

Top officials from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to wrap up a deal. In a key concession, Hamas officials say they are prepared to show more "flexibility" on the timing of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said Monday that a deal is closer than ever.

Israel said it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes killed over 46 people including several children.

The decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel’s foreign minister has described as Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.” In May, Israel recalled its ambassador to Dublin after Ireland announced, along with Norway, Spain and Slovenia, it would recognize a Palestinian state.

A rebel force deployed to a village in southeastern Damascus to stop looters who swarmed a residential complex and set some apartments on fire.

The raid by the rebel force comes a week after the fighters marched on the Syrian capital in their lightening offensive that forced Syrian President Bashar Assad to flee, ending five decades of his family rule.