The war in Gaza hung heavy over Good Friday in Jerusalem with fewer Christian pilgrims walking the path through the walled Old City that they believe Christ took to his crucifixion.
Security was heavy in the narrow alleyways where thousands of Palestinians observing the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan flocked to Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Turkey's flagship carrier, Turkish Airlines, has resumed flights to Libya's capital, almost 10 years after they were suspended over security concerns in the conflict-torn country.
The airlines's chief executive, Bilal Eksi, attended a ceremony at Mitiga International Airport on Thursday to mark its first flight to Libya since 2015.
"We are delighted to start flights again to Libya, with which we have historical ties," Eksi said.
"We will continue to bring cultures together in Africa, as in many continents," he added.
An aid delivery in Gaza descended into chaos on Saturday with shots fired and a Red Crescent paramedic reporting five dead, as almost six months of Israeli bombardment has left hundreds of thousands in desperate need.
Israel's siege, sparked by a deadly militant attack on October 7, brings nightly air strikes and in recent days major operations around several hospitals, which it says are used by Palestinian militant groups -- claims denied by Hamas.
Four months after he was freed from captivity in Gaza, Eitan Yahalomi celebrated his bar mitzvah -- but his coming-of-age last week was far from a joyous occasion, his mother told AFP.
In her first interview with international media since her son's release last November, Bat-Sheva Yahalomi said the boy still had nightmares and had not been able to resume normal life.
"He's strong but he's not well," she said, adding that he was still reliving the experiences of October 7 last year.
The world's top court on Thursday ordered Israel to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" in Gaza without delay, saying "famine has set in".
The International Court of Justice's latest order comes as heavy street battles continued to rage in besieged Gaza -- and a major medical charity said it "hasn't seen any change" since a United Nations Security Council resolution this week demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israel's top court Thursday for a new delay on compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, an issue that has put his ruling coalition at risk.
Conscription of ultra-Orthodox men has long been a divisive issue in Israeli politics, precipitating a protracted crisis that saw five parliamentary elections in under four years.
Ultra-Orthodox men are facing the possibility of being called up from April 1, as Israel's war against Hamas militants rages in the Gaza Strip.
The world's top court ordered Israel Thursday to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" reaches Gazans, as warnings multiplied of imminent famine after nearly six months of relentless conflict.
Heavy fighting and sustained bombardment again rocked the territory despite the UN Security Council's adoption of a resolution earlier this week demanding an "immediate ceasefire".
The United States has taken a public distance from Israel as never before over the Gaza war but the decisive test will be Rafah and whether Israel heeds US warnings against an offensive in the packed city.
The United States on Monday abstained at the Security Council, allowing a resolution to pass for the first time that called for an immediate ceasefire, infuriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who delayed a delegation to Washington to discuss US concerns on Rafah.
After months of waiting in vain for Hamas to release his relatives held hostage in Gaza, Israeli Bedouin Ali al-Zayadna travelled to Islam's third holiest site to appeal directly to the Almighty.
"Oh God, end the captivity of Youssef and Hamza," the 59-year-old said as he knelt at the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, referring to his brother and nephew who were abducted during the October 7 attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war.
A leading American university was sued Wednesday over a disinformation campaign allegedly financed by the United Arab Emirates, accused of seeding false narratives that linked academics to a radical group in the Middle East.
Farid Hafez, an Austrian political scientist, filed the $10 million lawsuit against George Washington University and Lorenzo Vidino, the director of its program on extremism.
