Israel has warned that it will intensify its strikes in Gaza if Hamas keeps up its rocket fire, as Palestinian rescuers reported dozens of deaths from Israeli strikes on the first day of the New Year.

Syria's top diplomat said he hoped to open a "new, bright page" with Saudi Arabia upon arriving in the kingdom Wednesday, the first foreign visit for Syria's new rulers, who seized power last month.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday launched a humanitarian air bridge to Syria, delivering food, shelter and medical supplies, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met with senior Christian clerics on Tuesday, amid calls on the Islamist chief to guarantee minority rights after seizing power earlier this month.

The U.S. military has launched airstrikes targeting military facilities belonging to Yemen's Houthi rebels in the capital, Sanaa.

U.S. Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles, the Central Command said.

Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight.

One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has been waging a major operation since early October. Gaza's Health Ministry said seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and at least a dozen other people were wounded.

French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday, in its first such strike on the country's soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

"Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant," Lecornu wrote on X while on a New Year visit to French U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Turkey is prepared to export electricity to Lebanon and Syria to assist them in addressing power shortages, Turkey’s energy minister said, adding that a Turkish delegation was already in Damascus to evaluate Syria’s energy infrastructure.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar also said Monday that the Turkish delegation included experts who would be assessing how Syria’s oil and natural gas could be used to improve the economy.

Syria on Monday appointed its first female interim Central Bank governor, as the country navigates through recovering its battered economy after the downfall of the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Maysaa Sabreen is the second woman appointed in a leadership role under Ahmad al-Sharaa and his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led Assad's ouster in an offensive in early December.

Syria’s new government said it deployed dozens of soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Adra on Monday in search of alleged militiamen loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad, with military police vehicles seen transporting detainees.

“A security campaign was carried out in Adra town which led to the arrest of the militia leaders in the area,” said Abu Yaarub, a security official who did not give his full name in accordance with regulations. He added that five top militiamen were detained.