A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul on Wednesday, with its impact and that of multiple aftershocks forcing thousands out onto the streets in panic across Turkey's largest city.

The quake was followed by more than 50 aftershocks, some very powerful, the interior minister said, although there were no reports of major damage or serious injury.

"An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude occurred in Silivri, Sea of Marmara, Istanbul," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X, adding that it was felt in the surrounding provinces.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday urged Hamas to free all hostages, saying keeping them provided Israel with "excuses" to attack Gaza, as rescuers recovered charred bodies from an Israeli strike.

Israeli attacks killed at least 25 people across the besieged territory, while Germany, France and Britain urged Israel to end its aid blockade.

Israel's Gaza military campaign resumed on March 18, ending the ceasefire that had largely paused hostilities and saw the release of 33 hostages in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.

After decades spent pruning thorny bushes and working arduous harvests, Khalaf Allah al-Talhi has perfected the art of capturing the fragrant aroma of the desert rose in a bottle.

"I love roses and take care of them more than I care for my own children," the 80-year-old told AFP from his flower farm in western Saudi Arabia's Taif.

Known as "the city of roses", the hills of Taif produce around 300 million of the area's signature pink roses annually at 800 flower farms.

By his own estimates, Talhi grows around five to six million of those.

US President Donald Trump's return to power has emboldened Israeli leaders' push to increase military presence in Gaza and reinvigorated right-wing ambitions to annex the occupied West Bank, experts say.

After a phone call Tuesday with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said on social media: "We are on the same side of every issue."

The United Nations on Tuesday appointed an envoy to complete a "strategic assessment" of the agency charged with aiding Palestinians, a spokesman said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Ian Martin of the United Kingdom to review the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, to gauge the "political, financial, security" constraints the agency faces.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that they were united on issues including trade and Iran.

"The call went very well -- We are on the same side of every issue," Trump said on his social media platform.

The United States and Iran launched talks this month on Tehran's nuclear program, first in Oman and then in Rome, and these discussions are due to resume this week.

Trump told reporters Monday his administration had had good meetings with the Iranians.

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis's support for Gazans and engagement with the small Catholic community in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The Catholic church's highest authority in the region, who is considered a potential successor to the late pontiff, Pizzaballa told journalists in Jerusalem that "Gaza represents, a little bit, all what was the heart of his pontificate".

A leader from Hamas-aligned Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya was among two people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, the group and Israel's military said.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November truce with militant group Hezbollah that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the foes including two months of all-out war.

Lebanon's civil defence said "an Israeli drone targeted a car" near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man's body.

A Hamas delegation left for Cairo to discuss "new ideas" aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, an official from the group said, as rescuers reported 26 dead in Israeli air strikes on Tuesday.

The renewed diplomatic effort follows Hamas's rejection last week of Israel's latest proposal to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Talks have so far failed to produce any breakthrough since Israel resumed its air and ground assault from March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Israeli police have been searching for a man reported missing following a suspected shark attack off the country's Mediterranean coast, the force said on Tuesday.

Shark attacks have not been reported in Israel for decades.

Police spokesman Aryeh Doron said that "several findings have been sent for examination", without specifying the nature of the recovered evidence.

Search operations continued Tuesday in the southeastern Mediterranean, near the area of the central city of Hadera where the swimmer had disappeared.