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Gaza civil defence says 12 killed by Israeli forces

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing Palestinians displaced after 21 months of war.

Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory's population of more than two million.

People inspect the damage after a reported Israeli strike on a clinic-turned-shelter in the  Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City

Trump hosts Netanyahu in push for Gaza deal

US President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war.

Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalize on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran.

"I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well," Trump told reporters at the start of the dinner when asked what was preventing a peace deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hands over a letter to US President Donald Trump as they meet at the Blue Room of the White House

Egyptian conservators give King Tut's treasures new glow

As a teenager, Eid Mertah would pore over books about King Tutankhamun, tracing hieroglyphs and dreaming of holding the boy pharaoh's golden mask in his hands.

Years later, the Egyptian conservator found himself gently brushing centuries-old dust off one of Tut's gilded ceremonial shrines -- a piece he had only seen in textbooks.

"I studied archaeology because of Tut," Mertah, 36, told AFP. "It was my dream to work on his treasures -- and that dream came true."

An archaeologist performs restorations on the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the restoration lab of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2020

Syria fights 'catastrophic' fires for fourth day

Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) of forest had "turned to ash" in wildfires as firefighters from neighbouring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia.

Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain in the coastal province and the danger of explosive war remnants, in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.

The fires have hit Syria's coastal mountains, burning vast areas of forest

Hezbollah chief says won't surrender under Israeli threats

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm.

His speech came ahead of a visit Monday by US envoy Thomas Barrack during which Lebanese authorities are due to respond to a request to disarm Hezbollah by year's end, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah supporters listen to a televised speech by the movemen't leader Naim Qassem during a ceremony during the peak of Ashura

Netanyahu says Trump meeting could 'advance' Gaza deal ahead of Doha talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he hoped an upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump could "help advance" a Gaza ceasefire deal, after sending negotiators to Doha for indirect talks with Hamas.

Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, the Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down on Monday with Trump, who has recently made a renewed push to end the fighting.

Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike on Gaza City

Israel army bulldozers plough through homes at West Bank camps

In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the landscape has been transformed after Israeli army bulldozers ploughed through its two refugee camps in what the military called a hunt for Palestinian militants.

The army gave thousands of displaced residents just a few hours to retrieve belongings from their homes before demolishing buildings and clearing wide avenues through the rubble.

Now residents fear the clearances will erase not just buildings, but their own status as refugees from lands inhabited by generations of their ancestors in what is now Israel.

Inhabitants cleared out their belongings as the Israeli army prepared to demolish houses in Tulkarem camp

BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs

BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump's "indiscriminate" trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy.

Emerging nations, which represent about half the world's population and 40 percent of global economic output, have united over "serious concerns" about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP on Saturday.

Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties.

Members of the Brazilian Navy patrol the Tomorrow Museum (Museu do Amanha) at Praca Maua, where the BRICS summit 2025 will be held

Iran's Khamenei makes first public appearance since Israel war: state media

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the outbreak of his country's recent 12-day war with Israel, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran, state media reported.

The octogenarian leader was shown in a video broadcast by state television greeting people and being cheered at a mosque as worshippers marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, an important date for Shia Muslims.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the audience in this handout picture released by his office

Trump to push Netanyahu for Gaza truce in crunch talks

US President Donald Trump hosts Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to press the Israeli prime minister to end the war with Hamas in Gaza.

Trump has vowed to be tough on Netanyahu as he hopes to use the momentum from the truce between Iran and Israel to secure a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, too.

Trump says Israel is committed to a 60-day halt in fighting and Hamas says it has responded positively to a US-backed proposal -- but sealing a final deal to end the 21-month-old war will be easier said than done.

US President Donald Trump said he was united with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu