SWEIDA, Syria (Reuters) -Hatem Radwan stared at the bloodstained floor and cushions in the Al-Radwan guest house in Syria's Druze city of Sweida, still wondering how he survived the shooting spree more than a week ago that killed his relatives and friends.

"I'm not sleeping. I wish I would have died; it would have been better for me," the 70-year-old told Reuters, saying two of his sons-in-law and his daughter's father-in-law were killed when armed men stormed into the guesthouse on July 16.

Israel is seeking to deport pro-Palestinian activists who were detained and brought to shore when their Gaza-bound boat was intercepted by the navy, a legal aid centre advising them said on Sunday.

The 21 activists from 10 countries were taken into custody late Saturday when the Handala was boarded in international waters as it attempted to breach an Israeli maritime blockade of the Palestinian territory.

CAIRO (Reuters) -The Israeli military announced on Sunday a pause in military activity in three designated areas of Gaza, shortly after it said it was taking several steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

The pause will take place daily in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, from 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) to 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) until further notice, the military said.

Designated secure routes will also be in place permanently from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., it added.

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Mayaan Lubell; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving sweltering heat, social stigma and inadequate facilities as she dreams of taking her team to the Paralympics.

Sarmad and seven other Iraqi women who live with disabilities train three times a week at a community centre in the southern city of Diwaniyah, preparing for an upcoming tournament that could qualify them for the national Paralympic team.

The facilities, however, are far from Olympic-standard.

PARIS -Arab countries will for the first time condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament early next week at aUnited Nations ministerial event in New York, a move meant to lure more European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, France's foreign minister said on Saturday.

In an exclusive interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said the move was part of a long-planned initiative between France and Saudi Arabia.

(Reuters) -Israel will resume airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, a few days after more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.

"The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations," the military added in a statement.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher and Enas Alashray; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Jordanian and Emirati planes dropped food into Gaza on Sunday, as Israel began a limited "tactical pause" in some military operations to allow the UN and aid agencies to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

The Palestinian territory is gripped by dire humanitarian conditions created by 21 months of war and made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May.

Since the easing of the blockade, the levels of aid reaching Gaza have been far below what aid groups say is needed.

(Reuters) -A Sudanese coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Saturday a parallel government, a move fiercely opposed by the army that could drive the country further towards partition as a two-year-old civil war rages.

The government led by RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was announced west of the country.

The RSF and its allies signed in March a transitional constitution outlining a federal, secular state divided into eight regions.

By Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer and musician who built a distinct Lebanese sound from Western and Arabic musical roots, and whose sardonic critique of the country's sectarian politics rang true to Lebanese across the divides, has died.

He was 69.

Rahbani was much-loved across Lebanon and his words remained relevant across generations, from those who grew up with him during the 1975-90 Civil War, to the post-war generation who have struggled to shake the war's legacy.

The United Nations and NGOs are warning of an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip -- a designation based on strict criteria and scientific evidence.

But the difficulty of getting to the most affected areas in the Palestinian territory, besieged by Israel, means there are huge challenges in gathering the required data.

- What is a famine? -

The internationally-agreed definition for famine is outlined by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative of 21 organisations and institutions including UN agencies and aid groups.