A young woman was stabbed and her attacker killed near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Friday, while the country's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was injured in a car crash as he returned from addressing journalists at the scene, officials said.
The young woman was stabbed in the city of Ramla and taken to hospital, police and paramedics said. They said the attacker was killed, without giving details.
Armed groups in the Middle East and North Africa have little difficulty getting their hands on portable surface-to-air missiles despite a campaign to prevent their proliferation, according to a report published Friday.
Shoulder-fired missiles -- also known as man-portable air-defence systems, or MANPADS -- in the hands of militants are seen as a threat because of their ability to target military aircraft, but also passenger planes.
A delegation from mediator Egypt arrived in Israel Friday in a bid to reignite stalled negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza war including the potential release of hostages, Israeli and Egyptian media reported.
The signs of fresh truce talks came alongside Israeli preparations for a military push in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, and with spillover from the war leading to stepped-up exchanges of fire over Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Syria has avoided getting embroiled in the Gaza war, experts said, despite a strike on Iran's Damascus consulate, blamed on Israel, that threatened to ignite a regional conflagration.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seeking to strike a delicate balancing act between Russia and Iran, which have propped up it up during 13 years of civil war and helped it reclaim lost territory.
The Israeli army said Friday a civilian was killed near the country's northern border with Lebanon, as near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah rage.
Both sides have stepped up attacks this week, with Hezbollah increasing rocket fire and Israel saying it had carried out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon.
The violence has fuelled fears of all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, which last went to war in 2006.
Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback by the Gulf state against its detractors, analysts have said.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas's political leadership since 2012 with the blessing of the United States, has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes talks on a possible truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.
Police have carried out large-scale arrests in universities across the country, at times using chemical irritants and tasers to disperse protests over Israel's war with Hamas.
Saudi Arabia could have its first Miss Universe contestant this year, organisers said this week, after a fashion model and influencer claimed she had been selected.
The Miss Universe Organization "is currently undergoing a rigorous vetting process qualifying a potential candidate to be awarded the Saudi Arabia franchise", Maria Jose Unda, the organisation's coordinator of international relations, said in a statement to AFP.
A ceremony for seven aid workers of the World Central Kitchen killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza was held in Washington on Thursday.
The founder of the US-based charity, Spanish-American chef Jose Andres, attended the interdenominational "celebration of life" at the National Cathedral in the US capital.
"They risked everything to feed people they did not know," Andres said at the ceremony attended by Doug Emhoff, the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris.
American cellist Yo-Yo Ma was expected to perform at the ceremony.
The UK on Thursday joined the United States and Canada in announcing a fresh set of sanctions against Iran's drone and missile industries after its recent attack on Israel.
Tehran launched its first direct military assault on Israeli territory nearly two weeks after an April 1 air strike -- widely blamed on Israel -- that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Damascus.
Iran's large-scale attack involved more than 300 drones and missiles, most of which were shot down by Israel and its allies including Washington and London, causing little damage.
