The Israeli military on Wednesday said it had struck a mosque in the Gaza Strip which it said had been used by Hamas as a weapons storage facility.
AFP photos from Gaza City on Tuesday showed fire and a huge plume of smoke rising above tents housing displaced Gazans during a strike on the Al-Muttaqin Mosque.
Palestinians could be seen combing through vast piles of rubble and debris in the aftermath of the attack.
By Phil Stewart
July 29 (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander for the Middle East has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.
Any crackdown on mobile communications would add a new dimension to the conflict for the thousands of U.S. troops in the region, many of whom still rely on phones to periodically message loved ones and assure them they are well.
The US military completed a "heavy wave of strikes" against Iran on Thursday in retaliation against Tehran targeting American bases in Jordan, as fighting intensified in the Middle East war after a nearly week-long pause.
The reignited hostilities have drawn in the Islamic republic's proxies, and appear to have dashed hopes of a quick return to negotiations between the foes.
US President Donald Trump had vowed to hit Iran "hard" after Tehran launched missiles at Jordan, its first regional strike in days.
By Jonathan Saul, Parisa Hafezi, Timour Azhari and Chen Aizhu
LONDON/DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - China has held direct talks with Yemen's Houthi movement to enable its tankers to sail through the southern Red Sea without being attacked after the Iran-aligned militia pledged to prevent access to Saudi ports, six sources with knowledge of the matter said.
By Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM, July 29 (Reuters) - Israelis are due to hold a national election on October 27. It will be the first since the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that shook the country and plunged the Middle East into turmoil as Israel went to war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Although polls predict a clear defeat for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, elections in Israel can be complex with a fragmented political system in which anyone can emerge as kingmaker.
WHAT DO THE POLLS SHOW?
By Michael Georgy
DUBAI, July 29 - The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have struck Iran-backed Shi'ite armed groups in Iraq, which the allies said were responsible for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
The attacks have put the spotlight on the militias that wield enormous political and military power in Iraq.
HOW DID THE MILITIAS BECOME INFLUENTIAL IN IRAQ?
The Shi'ite groups sprang up as Tehran steadily entrenched itself in Iraqi politics and security matters after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
NICOSIA, July 29 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he planned to convene a multi-party meeting on the division of Cyprus to define the way forward on resolving a conflict which has lasted more than half a century.
"I decided that I would convene another five plus one meeting, after adequate preparations on confidence building, methodology and substance," Guterres told journalists in Nicosia, Cyprus's divided capital. The meeting would include Greece, Britain and Turkey, which are guarantor powers of Cyprus's independence.
By Steve Holland, Gram Slattery, Simon Lewis and Alexander Cornwell
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump voiced irritation with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of their White House meeting on Tuesday, complaining that details of the Israeli prime minister's planned talking points on Iran had surfaced publicly, in a fresh sign of strain between the two leaders.
By David Lewis, Reade Levinson and Alexander Dziadosz
LONDON/CAIRO, July 29 (Reuters) - United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked by Reuters to a U.S. military contractor's business network transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, according to a draft U.N. report due to be published in September.
The findings provide additional important details about the role the aircraft played in supporting the RSF, the paramilitary force U.N. investigators have accused of committing genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
ISTANBUL, July 29 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities detained an opposition Istanbul district mayor and five others on Wednesday over alleged irregularities in building and occupancy permits, broadcaster NTV reported.
• Latest step in unprecedented legal crackdown on municipalities run by the main party opposing President Tayyip Erdogan.
• Uskudar municipality Mayor Sinem Dedetas detained, as well as district deputy mayor, secretary, an architect, a business agent and a contractor, NTV said.
