The UN Security Council struggled to find a unified voice Tuesday on pausing the Israel-Hamas war as aid efforts neared collapse and global economic fallout spread.

With calls growing for a new truce, Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh is to visit Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange with Israel, a source close to the Islamist group said.

In what they say is a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza, Yemen's Huthi rebels have repeatedly fired missiles and drones towards cargo ships in the Red Sea.

The United States pushed Tuesday to build up a multinational naval task force to protect a key global shipping lane from Yemen's Huthi rebels, who pledged to keep up their attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed Huthis say their missile and drone strikes on passing container ships are in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war raging between Israel and militant group Hamas since October 7.

Before war broke out in Gaza, Mahmud al-Daoudi could never have imagined the radio sets gathering dust in his shop would be in such high demand, offering his customers a precious link with the outside world.

Power cuts have long been a part of everyday life, but the besieged territory's 2.4 million people are now enduring long blackouts after Israel cut off electricity and fuel supplies.

Its relentless assault has killed more than 19,450 Gazans, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Tuesday they would not halt attacks on Red Sea shipping despite the announcement by the United States of a new maritime protection force.

"Even if America succeeds in mobilising the entire world, our military operations will not stop... no matter the sacrifices it costs us," senior Huthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on X, formerly Twitter.

Bukhaiti said the rebels would only halt their attacks if Israel's "crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population".

The skirts of whirling dervishes twirl in a symphony of disco colours celebrating mystic Sufi poet Rumi at a cultural centre in central Turkey's Konya.

Every year, the "Seb-i Arus" ("Wedding Night") festival honouring Rumi's death on December 17, 1273, draws so many people that traditional venues are not large enough to contain the crowds.

Among the nations condemning Israel's war in Gaza, one has stood out -- Russia had built a growing friendship with Israel, but that dalliance is over, analysts said, erased by the shifting sands of Middle East geopolitics.

Just under two years ago, the picture had been very different.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Israel didn't join the West in sanctioning Moscow, a demonstration of the alliance of convenience between the two governments.

A UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war was postponed again Tuesday, as members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse.

Three diplomatic sources said the vote on the text, the latest version of which calls for the "suspension" of hostilities, had been pushed to Wednesday.

Members of the council are grappling to find common ground on the resolution, a vote on which was pushed back several times throughout the day, according to diplomatic sources, after being postponed Monday.

A Swedish appeals court on Tuesday confirmed the conviction of a former Iranian prison official handed a life sentence for crimes committed during a 1988 purge of dissidents.

The verdict could have repercussions on the fate of Swedish prisoners in Iran, including EU diplomat Johan Floderus, who has been held for more than 600 days.

The Svea Court of Appeal said in a statement it "affirmed the judgment" of 62-year-old Hamid Noury, who in July 2022 was given a life sentence "for grave breaches of international humanitarian law and murder."

Israel faced another round of global pressure on Tuesday for a ceasefire in Gaza with a new UN vote and fresh Western diplomatic efforts, although the United States vowed to continue arming its ally.

The UN Security Council was set to convene Tuesday to weigh a call for a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory, after a previous bid was vetoed by the United States.

UK Foreign Minister David Cameron was also due to meet French and Italian leaders to push for a "sustainable ceasefire" in the conflict, his office said.

Sudanese paramilitaries on Monday pressed deeper into the former safe haven of Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazira state where they also seized the town of Rufaa, witnesses said.

It came a day after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces set up a base in Wad Madani, where their offensive has sent thousands fleeing Sudan's second city and former aid hub, many of them already displaced.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) "took control of Rufaa", 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Wad Madani, the witnesses told AFP.