War-weary Palestinians on Monday pushed wheelchair-bound and bed-ridden patients through the streets of central Gaza, evacuating a hospital in a frantic bid to stay ahead of feared Israeli bombardment.
The Israeli military had told people the day before to "evacuate immediately" a part of Deir el-Balah city because it planned to "act with force against Hamas and terrorist groups" there.
A far-right Israeli minister sparked fresh outrage on Monday by saying he would build a synagogue at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound if he could, once again challenging government policy.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly ignored the government's long-standing ban on Jews praying at the site, told Army Radio that if it were possible, he would build a synagogue at the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Iran on Monday praised the drone and missile assault by Lebanon's Hezbollah group on Israel, saying its arch-foe had lost the ability to prevent such attacks amid heightened regional tensions.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said the group, which is backed by Tehran, had launched a large-scale attack on Israel, targeting "the Glilot base -- the main Israeli military intelligence base".
Israel's military said the installation was not hit.
The boss of social media platform Telegram has been arrested in France, accused of allowing the sharing of illegal content.
The Russia-founded messaging platform has stayed out of the limelight in the West but has hundreds of millions of users across the world, and plays a key role in the Ukraine war.
- Libertarian leanings -
Pavel Durov, arrested after landing on his private jet in Paris on Saturday, launched the platform in 2013 with his brother Nikolai.
It claims to have 950 million users -- up from 550 million in 2022.
The United Nations on Monday said humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip has taken a serious blow after Israel ordered a new evacuation in the centre of the besieged territory.
It came as the United States announced "progress" in Gaza truce talks underway in Cairo, even after a major but brief cross-border escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
On Sunday the Israeli military ordered people to "evacuate immediately" a part of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, sparking a rapid exodus of civilians and displacing UN and NGO workers.
Waking at dawn on Sunday to explosions and sirens, Abigail Levy checked the news and quickly understood there had been "an escalation" of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
She stepped outside to find the Israeli port city of Haifa in a "very sad" state after the military announced it had carried out air strikes in Lebanon to thwart a large-scale attack by the Iran-backed militants.
"There was no one outside. Everything was closed, whereas usually there would be a lot of people and activity here," she said.
More than 21 million Shiite Muslims took part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq this year, which reached its peak on Sunday with attendees displaying their support for Gaza.
Arbaeen, which means forty in Arabic, marks the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and a founding figure in Shiite Islam.
It is one of the world's biggest religious gatherings and a major event for Shiites, who are the majority in Iraq and Iran.
US rapper Macklemore has announced he is cancelling an upcoming show in Dubai over the UAE's involvement in the conflict in Sudan, charges the Gulf state has denied.
The rapper best known for hits like 2012's "Thrift Shop" made the announcement in a post on social media on Saturday.
"I have decided to cancel my upcoming show in Dubai this October," he said.
"Over the last several months I've had a number of people reach out to me, sharing resources and asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan," he said.
Dozens of passengers at Lebanon's only international airport were anxiously checking announcement boards Sunday as more flights to the capital were cancelled or delayed amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Beirut International Airport was functioning but many passengers were stuck as major airlines announced flight suspensions, after Israel and Hezbollah announced broad strikes in an escalation of cross-border hostilities.
In a run-down north Syria camp, children displaced by the country's 13-year war played and splashed in volunteer-run mobile swimming pools that provided much-needed relief from the sweltering summer heat.
Volunteers from the Smile Younited charity barely had any time to finish setting up the three pools in a busy square surrounded by tents before children of all ages jumped in, dancing along to songs blasted on loudspeakers.
