Israeli strikes killed dozens of people in Gaza Sunday, civil defence rescuers said, most of them in northern Gaza where the UN and others have decried disastrous humanitarian conditions.

In Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed 11 people in the south and six in Beirut -- including Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Vowing to stop Hamas from regrouping in northern Gaza, Israel on October 6 began air and ground operation in Jabalia and then expanded it to Beit Lahia.

Egypt's economy has been in crisis for years, but as the latest round of International Monetary Fund-backed reforms bites, much of the country's middle class has found itself struggling to afford goods once considered basics.

The world lender has long backed measures in Egypt including a liberal currency exchange market and weaning the public away from subsidies.

On the ground, that has translated into an eroding middle class with depleted purchasing power, turning into luxuries what were once considered necessities.

Lina al-Khalil has fled her south Beirut home to escape escalating Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, but she still returns daily to the bombarded area to keep the family business running.

"It's more important than my house," said the pharmacist, in her 50s, of the business she inherited from her father in Haret Hreik, a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital where Iran-backed Hezbollah militants hold sway.

Whenever the Israeli military issues a warning to evacuate before a strike -- a near-daily occurrence for nearly two months -- she closes down the shop and rushes out.

Many Iranians were sceptical on Saturday about the possibility of the Islamic republic opening negotiations with the United States under Donald Trump, given the fractured history he has with Tehran.

On Thursday, The New York Times reported that tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk had met Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to defuse tensions between the two countries.

Iran on Saturday "categorically" denied that any such meeting had taken place.

Hundreds of protesters marched in support of Palestinians in Rio on Saturday, in a demonstration aimed at world leaders about to converge on the city for a G20 summit.

The march, held peacefully under constant rain along Copacabana Beach, was watched by dozens of police and soldiers deployed as security for the summit to be held Monday and Tuesday.

The meeting will see heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, discuss coordination on international issues.

Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Hezbollah bastions in Beirut and south Lebanon on Saturday, as the Iran-backed militants said they fired on several Israeli military bases around the coastal city of Haifa.

Israel's military reported a "heavy rocket barrage" on Haifa and said a synagogue was hit, wounding two civilians.

A military statement shortly before midnight said Hezbollah had fired around 80 projectiles at the country Saturday.

Singing together in harmony, hundreds of religious Jews gather in a Tel Aviv square to listen to the devastated families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for 13 months.

The paved area, now known as "Hostage Square", welcomes the families of the captives -- most taken from secular kibbutzim -- for emotional gatherings every Saturday evening where they issue a rallying cry for their loved ones' freedom: "A deal now!"

On Tuesdays, religious Jews attend to provide solace to the families.

In the crowded Qalandia refugee camp, UNRWA's training centre is an island of calm where young people from the occupied West Bank master trades, but a recent Israeli ban on all cooperation with the UN agency has left the centre in limbo.

On the spacious campus a stone's throw from the wall separating the West Bank and Israel, plumbers in training assemble pipes, future electricians wire circuits and carpenters hammer together roof frames.

As winter descends on Gaza's tent cities, emergency housing made from mushrooms could keep out the cold -- just one of several sustainable, home-grown innovations put forward by Arab designers at an expo in Dubai.

Lightweight, warm and versatile, mushroom-based structures are an appealing alternative to the flimsy shelters now housing many thousands of Gazans displaced by more than a year of war, according to Dima Al Srouri, a member of the ReRoot initiative.

For more than a year, the United States has steadfastly backed Israel in its Gaza war while quietly counseling restraint. With Donald Trump's return, the nuance will vanish, although his hunger for deal-making makes him less predictable.