Palestinian residents of Maghayer al-Deir in the occupied West Bank told AFP on Thursday that they had begun packing their belonging and preparing to leave the village following repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

Yusef Malihat, a resident of the tiny village east of Ramallah, told AFP his community had decided to leave because its members felt powerless in the face of the settler violence.

A state-approved Iranian movie featuring women constantly in headscarves premiered at the Cannes film festival on Thursday, with director Saeed Roustayi defending his decision to bend to the diktats of national censors.

The Cannes Festival has long offered a platform for independent Iranian filmmakers whose work is lauded on the French Riviera but usually banned at home.

Roustayi has previously defied his country's authorities. His last film in Cannes -- "Leila's Brothers" in 2022 -- landed him a six-month suspended jail term and film ban.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest winner Austrian singer JJ called for Israel to be excluded from next year's competition in an interview published Thursday.

He also expressed regret over Israel's participation in this year's competition despite the war in Gaza.

Eurovision has faced criticism for allowing Israel to participate in the contest despite the devastating Gaza war. This year, pro-Palestinian activists staged protests during the extravaganza in Switzerland over the weekend.

Plumes of smoke rose Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel's military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza -- the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.

At a currency exchange in Damascus, Anas al-Shammaa is one of many Syrians hopeful that promised relief from Western sanctions will help revive their country's economy after years of war and isolation.

"We were totally cut off from the world," said Shammaa, 45, who has been running the exchange shop since 2008.

With the lifting of sanctions, "we hope that the Syrian economy will start to recover both gradually and quickly", he told AFP.

Irish rappers Kneecap on Thursday denied supporting a proscribed group and vowed to defend themselves after a singer was charged with a "terror" offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert.

The Iran-backed Lebanese force Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are banned in the UK and it is an offence to support them.

"We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction," the band said on X.

International tensions over anti-Semitism erupted Thursday after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead at a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine" as he was arrested.

Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar blamed European criticism of his country's stepped-up Gaza offensive, claiming "a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder."

"This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe," he said.

Several nations that have backed Israel voiced outrage Wednesday after Israeli troops fired what they called "warning shots" as foreign diplomats visited the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority accused troops of "deliberately" shooting at the delegation near the flashpoint city of Jenin. The Israeli military, already under pressure over its tactics in the Gaza war, said it regretted the "inconvenience".

AFP footage from Jenin -- a frequent target of Israeli military raids -- showed the delegation and accompanying journalists running for cover as shots were heard.

As Lebanon suffered a war last year, Ali Chahrour was determined to keep making art, creating a performance inspired by the plight of migrant workers caught up in the conflict.

Months after a ceasefire largely halted the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Chahrour's work premiered in Beirut in early May with plans to take it to stages across Europe including at France's famed Avignon Festival.

"This project was born during the war," said the 35-year-old playwright and choreographer.

There was one notable -- and loudly noted -- absence on Wednesday at Columbia University's graduation ceremony: detained pro-Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil.

"Boo... Shame on you!" students chanted when Clare Shipman, interim president of the prestigious New York City school, took the podium.

Columbia has been the site of demonstrations calling for an end to violence in Gaza for the past 18 months, and more recently, has seen student protesters arrested by the Trump administration.