A senior Hamas official said Monday that Israel must halt its "aggression" in both Gaza and Jerusalem if it wants calm following an 11-day war earlier this month.

Khalil al-Haya spoke after meeting with Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, who visited Gaza after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip aimed at shoring up an informal cease-fire brokered by Cairo.

Israel's centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid was edging closer Monday to rallying a diverse political bloc around a common aim: to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iran's foreign ministry said Monday that the Islamic republic is continuing talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia in a "good atmosphere," in the hope of reaching a "common understanding."

Israel's centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday said "many obstacles" remain before a coalition to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is agreed.

Israeli politicians Sunday inched closer to forming a coalition that would end the era of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest serving leader.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi arrived in Cairo Sunday to discuss with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry the establishment of a "permanent ceasefire" between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel was expected in the occupied Palestinian territories Sunday, a Palestinian minister said, after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended a flare-up of fighting between Israel and Gaza's rulers Hamas.

Key Syrian government ally Iran has congratulated President Bashar al-Assad on his landslide election victory, describing it as a "big step" towards restoring peace after a decade of civil war.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has won a fourth term in office with 95 percent of the vote in a ballot dismissed abroad as a "farce".

Thousands of Hamas fighters held a military parade Friday in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, a week after a ceasefire with Israel took effect in the devastated coastal enclave.