Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was set to meet Israeli leaders Tuesday as part of efforts to contain the war in Gaza, a day after strikes in Syria and Lebanon killed high-profile members of Hamas and its ally Hezbollah.
The visit comes as the Israeli military said its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was shifting into a new phase involving more targeted operations in the territory's centre and south.
Qatar go into the Asian Cup starting on Friday as hosts and holders but the shock axing of Carlos Queiroz as coach last month has thrown their title defence into serious question.
Prior to that, the talk was about how Qatar would right the wrongs of a disappointing early exit from their home World Cup just over a year ago.
Qatar's three straight defeats was the worst performance of any World Cup host in history.
Dabbing away tears, Ghadeer al-Atrash stood before her bulldozed home in a Palestinian village abutting Israeli settlements, a fate feared by hundreds of villagers as Israel ramps up demolitions during wartime.
Destruction of homes built without Israeli-issued permits, which campaigners say are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain due to Israel's restrictive planning policy, have roiled occupied territories for years.
US top diplomat Antony Blinken said there was "clear interest" in pursuing relations with Israel after talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the latest stop in a tour to calm a region inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.
Blinken also said all the leaders on his tour, which took him to six countries before heading to Israel, had agreed to work with the US to help Gaza's recovery and long-term stability.
He was speaking after meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler, in a lavish tent outside Al Ula, a historic oasis town.
Israel on Monday killed a top Hezbollah commander in a strike on south Lebanon, the Iran-backed group and a security official said, as regional tensions soar amid the Gaza war.
Hezbollah in a statement announced the killing of a "commander" for the first time in three months of cross-border clashes with Israeli forces.
It said Wissam Hassan Tawil had died "on the road to Jerusalem" -- the phrase used by the Shiite Muslim movement for fighters killed by Israel.
Students rush from class to the anti-missile shelter at the High School of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, an early-morning exercise that has become a ritual during the Gaza war.
The youngsters seem unfazed by the drills, joking together as they skip down the stairs to the large reinforced room on the second floor, behind a heavy security door.
Head teacher Ilana Uritsky is battling to keep a sense of normality and routine, which she says is vital to protect the mental health of her pupils.
Lucas Moraes grabbed his first Dakar stage victory on Monday as Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished third to take the overall lead in the car class.
In the bikes, Kevin Benavides claimed victories as a host of his rivals were penalised for speeding and two-time winner Sam Sunderland was knocked out of the race by mechanical problem ended his interest in this year's edition, organisers said.
Moraes, a Brazilian Toyota driver won the 438km third stage by just nine seconds from Swede Mattias Ekstrom in an Audi.
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv late Monday as part of a regional tour seeking to avert regional escalation as Israel pounded Hamas-ruled Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah said an Israeli strike killed a top commander.
Palestinian militants reported fierce ground combat in southern Gaza, where Israel says its focus has shifted along with the territory's centre three months into its war with Hamas.
Igor Stimac says Indian football is "definitely out of its slumber" but the outspoken coach warned against big expectations at the Asian Cup starting on Friday in Qatar.
Football has struggled to find its feet in the cricket-obsessed nation of 1.4 billion people, with former FIFA president Sepp Blatter once calling India "a sleeping giant" of the sport.
Former West Ham and Derby defender Stimac was appointed coach in May 2019 and India briefly broke into the top 100 of FIFA's world rankings for only the second time in nearly three decades.
A British-Palestinian doctor who worked in Gazan hospitals during the Israel-Hamas conflict hopes that testimony he has given to UK police will lead to prosecutions for war crimes.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a plastic surgeon specialising in conflict injuries, spent 43 days volunteering in the besieged Palestinian territory, mostly at the al-Ahli and Shifa hospitals in the north.
