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Lebanon PM says ready to bolster army in south after any ceasefire

Lebanon's prime minister told AFP on Tuesday his country was ready to bolster the army's presence in the country's south if there is a ceasefire to end weeks of intense Israeli air strikes and ground incursions targeting Hezbollah.

Najib Mikati said the international community had engaged in "serious efforts" to impose a ceasefire, which he said the Iran-backed militant group had already accepted.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he wanted to boost troop numbers in the south to secure any ceasefire deal

France to play Israel in Paris and allow fans in

The Nations League match between France and Israel, on November 14, will be played at the Stade de France and "will of course be open to the public", Paris police announced on Tuesday.

Israel has been at war with Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since the latter staged the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a peaceful march through Udine, Italy, ahead of Israel's Nations league game against Italy

Turkish govt defends tax plan to fund defence industry

The Turkish government defended a proposed tax on credit cards on Tuesday, saying it was needed to fund the arms industry and protect the country as conflict rages in its neighbourhood.

Indignant Turks, who already face double-digit inflation, called their banks to lower their credit limits after the ruling AKP party submitted the tax bill to parliament on Friday.

The legislation comes as Israel's conflicts with Tehran-backed Islamist militants in Gaza and Lebanon, and missile strikes by Iran, have raised global concerns that a broader war could erupt in the Middle East.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Turkey must boost its 'deterrent power' due conflict in the region

Iran's Quds Force chief Qaani attends general's funeral

Iranian commander Esmail Qaani on Tuesday appeared in public after weeks of absence to attend the funeral ceremony for general Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed last month in Lebanon.

Nilforoushan, a general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The funeral procession for the slain Iranian general began at the Imam Hossein Square in central Tehran Tuesday morning, according to a live broadcast on state television.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander Esmail Qaani attends the funeral ceremony for slain general Abbas Nilforoushan

Netanyahu vows 'no ceasefire' in Lebanon after Hezbollah threats

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Tuesday the idea of a ceasefire in Lebanon that would leave Hezbollah close to his country's northern border, as the militant group threatened to widen its attacks.

Netanyahu's comments came as the United States ramped up pressure over Israel's conduct of the wars in Lebanon and Gaza, criticising the recent bombing of Beirut and demanding that more aid reach the Palestinian territory.

Responders arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Toul amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Cuban president leads pro-Palestinian march in Havana

Thousands of Cubans, led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other leaders of the communist-run island, marched in Havana on Monday to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The demonstrators, including some 250 Palestinian medical students living in Cuba, carried a large banner that read "Long live free Palestine," while the president and his allies wore traditional keffiyeh scarves.

The demonstrators, who included some 250 Palestinian medical students living in Cuba, carried a large banner that read 'Long live free Palestine'

UN peacekeepers to 'stay in all positions' in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers will stay in all positions in Lebanon despite Israeli calls for them to move amid intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and five blue helmets suffering injuries, the UN peacekeeping chief said Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday again called for the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to move from certain areas close to Israel's border with Lebanon, insisting it was "completely false" that Israeli forces targeted the UN force, UNIFIL.

Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon

Red Cross calls for protection of medical workers in Lebanon

The International Committee for the Red Cross called on Monday for Lebanon's health care system to be protected after reports that Israeli strikes hit medical staff during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

"I really... appeal for the protection of healthcare workers, for ambulances, for hospitals, for primary health centres," said Nicolas Von Arx, the ICRC's regional director for the Near and Middle East.

"Attacks on health facilities are deeply worrying," he added.

The ICRC's regional director Nicolas Von Arx said Lebanon's medical workers and health care facilities must be protected during the fighting

Palestinian officials say Israeli forces kill two in West Bank

The Palestinian ministry of health said Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a teenager, on Monday in the West Bank city of Jenin which has seen repeated military raids.

The Israeli military, when contacted by AFP, said it was "looking into the reports".

In a statement, the Ramallah-based health ministry said the two Palestinians were "shot dead by the occupation army".

Journalists cover the deployment of Israeli armoured vehicles during a raid in the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank

Lebanon rescuers defy danger, lack of resources to keep working

When volunteer Lebanese rescue worker Aya Wehbeh was called to respond to a rare Israeli strike in central Beirut last week, she was terrified it had hit her family home.

"This period is really tough," the 25-year-old said days after the twin strikes on the Nweiri and Basta districts of the capital left at least 22 dead.

"I could have ended up pulling my mother, father, aunt or neighbour from the rubble," she said.

"I've been volunteering for five years but this ongoing offensive in very different from the other years."

Aya Wehbeh said she feared pulling her own family from the rubble of an Israeli strike in Lebanon's capital