Dressed in tracksuits with their sleeves rolled up, about 30 residents in Tajura, a suburb east of Libya's capital, volunteer every day to cook and give away some 300 meals during Ramadan.
The men of all ages join efforts to make Bazin -- a Libyan barley-based dough served with a stew -- as part of a campaign coupling social solidarity with culinary tradition to provide free meals for people fasting during the Muslim holy month.
As Palestinian climber Faris Abu Gosh encouraged his friend ascending a limestone cliff in the occupied West Bank, the war raging in Gaza momentarily slipped from his mind.
Scaling rock faces has offered solace since the fighting erupted, but he and his friends have also had to face mounting challenges in what was already not an easy place for their budding climbing community.
Yet, they have simply adapted, finding detours around new Israeli checkpoints or ways to avoid the heightened risks of confrontations with soldiers or settlers living in the surrounding hills.
An Israeli strike on Wednesday killed three Palestinians in a car in the occupied West Bank, including a senior Islamic Jihad militant, the Palestinian health ministry said.
AFP journalists saw a crowd gathered around the charred remains of a vehicle and blood on the pavement in the northern West Bank city of Jenin after the army said "an aircraft struck two senior Islamic Jihad operatives".
The military said it had "eliminated" Ahmed Barakat, whom it accused of a May 2023 attack that killed an Israeli settler.
Displaced residents of Israel's northernmost town have learned to dread hearing from David Azulay -- the man who calls when Hezbollah rockets have crashed into their abandoned homes.
The 57-year-old has been mostly on his own since nearly all of Metula's inhabitants fled following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October.
As head of the town council, Azulay felt an obligation to stay behind and monitor damage wrought by Lebanon-based Hezbollah as it fires missiles and mortars on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas, its Gaza-based ally.
A few dozen Israelis protested outside the Jerusalem office of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday, calling for its dismantling after Israel accused some staff of colluding with Hamas.
"UNRWA has allowed terrorism," said American-Israeli protester Allison Epstein. "It is not an organisation for peace. It has taught generations of Palestinians to hate Jews. It's time to dismantle it."
Around her in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, protesters chanted: "UNRWA is Hamas! Hamas is UNRWA!".
US top diplomat Antony Blinken touched down Wednesday in the Middle East to bolster efforts for a truce in the war in Gaza, as Israeli forces pushed on with a raid on the territory's largest hospital.
Global concern has mounted over the military conflict now in its sixth month, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to a deadly attack by its fighters on October 7.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to return Wednesday to the Middle East in a new bid to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.
Following a failed attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last week, a new round of negotiations hosted by key mediator Qatar has begun.
On the ground, however, there was no sign of letup in the war that has devastated much of the Gaza Strip and forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to seek refuge in the south of the besieged territory.
Ali is 12 and has survived things no child should see, spending half his life in what amounts to a prison camp for jihadist families in an arid corner of northeastern Syria.
He knows not to dream of freedom. Instead he fantasises about having a football. "Can you get me one?" he said, as if he was asking for the Moon.
Israel's footballers are aiming to make history by reaching the European Championship for the first time amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with the final three places at Euro 2024 up for grabs over the next week.
Twelve teams still have dreams of reaching Germany later this year with three sets of four nations to face off in Thursday's semi-finals and the winners progressing to a final on March 26.
Israel became a member of Europe's governing body UEFA 20 years ago, but are yet to reach the continent's major international competition.
Torrential rains lashed a tent camp for displaced people in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where frightened Palestinian children can no longer distinguish between thunder and Israeli bombardment.
The storm fell overnight Monday to Tuesday in the southernmost Gaza Strip city, adding to the anguish of Palestinians who fled the war between Hamas and Israel, many without warm clothes, blankets or proper footwear.
Oum Abdullah Alwan said her children "screamed in fear" because "we can't tell the difference between the sound of rain and the sound of shelling".
