The U.N. Security Council delayed until Tuesday morning a vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Gaza to allow for urgently needed aid deliveries to a massive number of civilians as members intensified negotiations to try to avoid another veto by the United States.

The council said Monday's 5 p.m. EST vote would not take place, and diplomats said negotiations were taking place to get the United States, Israel's closest ally, to abstain or vote "yes" on the resolution.

The head of the CIA jetted to Europe for talks with Israeli and Qatari officials Monday, sounding out the potential for a deal on a new cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza as the United States defense secretary spoke to Israeli military leaders about scaling back major combat operations against Hamas.

Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.

The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain.

The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged the vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed.

An airstrike believed to have been carried out by Jordan's air force struck a province in southern Syria late on Monday night, Syrian opposition activists said. Hours earlier, Jordanian authorities said their troops killed several smugglers in a border clash.

There was no immediate confirmation from Jordan on the strike that hit the province of Sweida, a known route for drug smuggling from war-torn Syria to its southern neighbor.

The Egyptian election authority announced Monday that sitting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had won a new six-year term with 89.6 percent of the vote.

Authority head Hazem Badawy said turnout reached an "unprecedented" 66.8 percent of Egypt's 67 million voters.

After France, the U.K. and Germany joined global calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Tel Aviv Monday, and is also expected to press Israel to wind down its offensive in Gaza.

The 10-week-old war has killed over 18,700 Palestinians and transformed much of the north of Gaza into a moonscape. Nearly 85% of Gaza's population have fled their homes.

A Cayman Islands-flagged tanker has been attacked in a crucial shipping route off Yemen, a U.S. military official said Monday.

The attack that targeted the Swan Atlantic, a chemical and oil products carrier, is the latest in a series of assaults on vessels in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Israelis were left stunned and speechless when three hostages held by Hamas were killed by Israeli forces in the middle of an active war zone after they waved a white flag and screamed out in Hebrew to show they did not pose a threat.

For some, the incident was a shocking example of the ugliness of war, where a complex and dangerous battlefield is safe for no one. But for critics, the incident underscores what they say is the excessively violent conduct of Israel's security apparatus against Palestinians. Except in this case, it cut short the lives of three Israelis trying desperately to save themselves.

Nearly 70% of Iran's gas stations went out of service on Monday following possible sabotage — a reference to cyberattacks, Iranian state TV reported.

The report said a "software problem" caused the irregularity in the gas stations. It urged people not to rush to the stations that were still operational.

The Israeli military said it has discovered a large tunnel shaft in Gaza close to what was once a busy crossing into Israel, raising new questions about how Israeli surveillance missed such conspicuous preparations by Hamas for the militants' deadly Oct. 7 assault.

The entryway to the tunnel is just a few hundred meters from the heavily fortified Erez crossing and a nearby Israeli military base.