Israel struck Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut on Tuesday in retaliation for rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 children over the weekend, saying it had killed the commander responsible for the attack.

Israel's army said its jets had "eliminated" Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for carrying out an attack on the annexed Golan Heights where the children were killed on Saturday.

A source close to Hezbollah said Shukr was the target but that he "survived the Israeli strike". AFP was not immediately able to confirm that report.

Iranian reformist Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in before parliament on Tuesday as the Islamic republic's ninth president at a ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries.

Pezeshkian won a runoff race against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili on July 5 to replace president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May.

Tuesday's ceremony came two days after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially endorsed Pezeshkian and gave the 69-year-old heart surgeon presidential powers.

Libya repatriated Tuesday 369 irregular migrants to their home countries Nigeria and Mali, including more than one hundred women and children, an official told AFP.

Mohammed Baredaa, head of the Libyan interior ministry organisation tasked with halting irregular migration, said two repatriations flights took place transporting 204 Nigerians and 165 Malians.

Nine babies, 18 minors, and 108 women were among the Nigerian irregular migrants, said Baredaa.

He said that the flights were carried out "in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM)".

Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez has revealed she competed at the Paris Olympics, reaching the last 16 in her event and defeating a higher-ranked rival on the way, while seven months pregnant.

Hafez, a three-time Olympian from Cairo, ranked 26th, beat American fencer Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the sabre event before succumbing to Hayoung Jeon of South Korea in the quarter finals on Monday.

"Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian!" the 26-year-old said on Instagram late Monday.

Tunisia has kicked off candidacy submissions for its upcoming presidential election on October 6, amid what experts say are significant constraints on hopefuls challenging incumbent President Kais Saied.

A number of conditions and requirements to run for office have changed under Saied, 66, who was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021.

To qualify to appear on the ballot, candidates are required to gather "an enormous number" of signatures, said Amine Kharrat, a political analyst at independent observatory Al Bawsala.

Druze residents of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights distanced themselves Tuesday from Israeli threats to retaliate against Lebanon's Hezbollah group for a deadly rocket strike on a Druze Arab town in the territory.

Most of Majdal Shams's around 11,000 residents still identify as Syrian more than half a century after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.

For months, Israel has vowed to put an end to the frequent cross-border fire from Hezbollah which has led authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens from areas near the border with Lebanon.

The situation has grown more tense this week following a rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights which killed 12 children, raising fears of a further escalation in Israel's conflict with Hezbollah.

After a deadly strike on civilians in the annexed Golan Heights, Israel has threatened retaliation against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, accusing it of perpetrating the attack with an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket -- part of its wide-ranging arsenal.

Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israel in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said Monday nine soldiers were being held in a case of suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee at a facility holding Palestinians arrested from Gaza during the war.

Israeli civilians protested outside a military base where the nine soldiers were being held, while several others -- also in an attempt to show support -- broke into a detention facility where the alleged abuse occurred.

A military spokesman confirmed to AFP that nine soldiers had been held and they "were taken for questioning" on the case.

As the first dolphin fin surfaced from the Bosphorus, a ripple of excitement went round passengers on a free boat ride to see one of Istanbul's most graceful sights.

Whether they live there or are just passing through, dolphins and porpoises feel very much at home in the busy strait that bisects the Turkish megapolis of some 16 million people.

Istanbul city council organises free summer dolphin spotting trips with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to raise awareness of the dangers facing the sea mammals.