Jailed in Israel for the past 24 years, Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti remains a rallying figure for his people and could head a "democratic renewal", his son told AFP.

Sometimes called the "Nelson Mandela of Palestine" by his supporters, Barghouti, 66, is Israel's most high-profile prisoner and has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause.

Images of Barghouti have been painted across many walls in the occupied West Bank and were also seen in Gaza before most of the Strip was destroyed by Israeli strikes in the war.

MOSCOW, April 24 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that restrictions on hydrocarbons in new EU sanctions against Russia would have dire consequences given the current global shortage of resources.

The EU adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia over Moscow's war in Ukraine on Thursday after Slovakia and Hungary dropped their opposition to the move following the resumption of flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

By Feras Dalatey

April 24 - Syria's Interior Ministry said on Friday it had arrested the main suspect in the 2013 Tadamon massacre, one of the worst acts of violence attributed to the former government of Bashar al-Assad, in which 288 civilians were killed.

The ministry released footage of Amjad Yousef’s arrest in the Al-Ghab Plain area of Hama province in western Syria, near his hometown. Yousef had been hiding there since the overthrow of Assad at the end of 2024, a security source told Reuters.

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Only five ships, including one Iranian oil products tanker, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, Friday shipping data showed, after Iran seized two container ships this week and the U.S. continues to blockade Iranian ports.

Shipping traffic passing through the crucial waterway at the entrance to the Gulf during an uneasy ceasefire between Washington and Tehran represents a fraction of the average 140 daily passages before the Iran war began on February 28.

Clutching a battered photo album, Mohamad Ali Hijazi searched a mountain of rubble in south Lebanon's Tyre for mementoes of his family, killed in an Israeli strike minutes before a ceasefire took hold.

"I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush... and a bottle of perfume that she loves," said Hijazi, 48 -- some of the last things he sent her from France, where he has long lived with his wife and two daughters.

"My life has been destroyed. I haven't slept for five days," he said, repeatedly fighting back tears.

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with Britain, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday after an internal Pentagon email suggested reviewing the U.S. position on the Falklands as punishment for Britain's stance on the Iran war.

"We could not be clearer about the UK's position on the Falkland Islands. It is long standing, it is unchanged," the spokesperson told reporters.

BEIRUT, April 24 (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah said a U.S.-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaninglessa day after it was extended for three weeks, pointing tocontinued Israeli attacks in south Lebanon and saying the group had the right to respond.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the U.S. position on Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands, a U.S. official told Reuters.

After weathering unprecedented attacks from Iran, the wealthy Gulf states are now stuck between war and peace as talks stall and the vital Strait of Hormuz remains all but closed -- threatening economic recovery.

Iran has hit Gulf energy exports with its Strait of Hormuz blockade, while its attacks have caused damage to energy infrastructure that could take months or more to repair.

By Ariba Shahid

ISLAMABAD, April 24 (Reuters) - For nearly a week, Pakistan's capital has been waiting for peace talks between the U.S. and Iran to take place there, and although there is no sign the two sides will meet, large parts of the city remain sealed off by authorities.

Key roads leading into Islamabad are shut down and a strict security cordon envelops the administrative centre, the so-called "Red Zone". In the adjacent "Blue Area", cafes have run out of fruit, markets are deserted and with no service at bus terminals, weekend commuters are struggling to get home.