By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Eman Abouhassira
CAIRO, July 20 (Reuters) - Hamas has named Khalil Al-Hayya as its overall leader, according to a statement from the Palestinian militant group on Monday, in a move an analyst says could signal a tougher stance by the group towards disarmament calls.
Hayya replaces Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in combat with Israeli forces in October 2024 as Hamas fought a full-scale, two-year war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
July 20 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun a pilot programme for safe zones in southern Lebanon in cooperation with U.S. and Lebanese forces, in what a U.S. official called a step toward reasserting Lebanese state authority in the area.
The pilot zones are designated areas in southern Lebanon where a U.S.-brokered framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon signed last month foresees Iran-backed Hezbollah's disarmament, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of Lebanese troops.
By Nayera Abdallah and Timour Azhari
DUBAI, July 20 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, drawing a warning from the Saudi-led coalition that it would respond "firmly", in amove that threatens to disrupt global energy supplies beyond the Gulf.
The Houthis' armed forces in a statement said they were declaring "a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of 'an eye for an eye', effective immediately".
By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall
DUBAI, July 20 (Reuters) - Opposition to Iran's clerical rulers has long simmered in the country's impoverished south. But after bearing the brunt of U.S. strikes this month, many residents are directing their anger at President Donald Trump and an air campaign they say has upended their lives.
By Jonathan Saul
LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Oil transfers between tankers in waters outside the Strait of Hormuz have slowed following a wave of recent attacks on vessels by Iranian forces, according to satellite analysis and sources.
Since the start of the Iran war in late February, ship-to-ship (STS) transfers between tankers have helped enable oil to leave the Gulf despite the threats to commercial vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
(Corrects Palestinian death toll to 73,000 from 67,000, in paragraph 17)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
July 20 (Reuters) - Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official who survived an Israeli raid on Qatar in September last year and who is seen as having good ties with Iran, was named on Monday as the overall leader of the Palestinian militant group.
Hayya, who lost a son in the Gaza conflict and two sons in previous wars, has been based with other Hamas leaders in Doha.
