Freed Israeli hostage Mia Leimberg credited her pet dog Bella with providing "moral support" during the weeks she spent in captivity in the hands of Gaza militants.

Leimberg, her mother Gabriela and her aunt Clara Marman were among the Israeli hostages released by Hamas and its allies under a temporary truce deal before it fell apart on Friday.

Images of the 17-year-old's release -- flanked by fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with Bella in her arms -- were beamed around the world last week, finally solving the mystery of what had become of the fluffy, white family pet.

A plastic sheet rigged up as a tent, branches gathered from here and there to make a fire -- at the southern tip of Gaza, displaced Palestinians are settling in as best they can.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Khan Yunis -- Gaza's main southern city, now surrounded by the Israeli army -- towards Rafah, less than 10 kilometres (six miles) away on the territory's closed border with Egypt.

Many among them had already been displaced once in recent weeks, heading south to escape heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas in the north.

Israeli authorities have approved the construction of more than 1,700 new homes, a non-governmental organisation said Wednesday, a move constituting the expansion of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem.

Half the "new neighbourhood" comprising 1,738 housing units will be in the city's annexed east, the Israeli NGO Peace Now said.

"If it weren't for the war (between Israel and Hamas), there would be a lot of noise. It's a highly problematic project for the continuity of a Palestinian state between the southern West Bank and east Jerusalem," Peace Now's Hagit Ofran told AFP.

The UN rights chief voiced deep concern on Wednesday over allegations of sexual violence by Hamas militants during their October 7 attack, calling on Israel to allow his team in to investigate.

"These are very, very serious allegations and they need to be investigated, they need to be properly documented," Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, told a press conference.

"Justice must be served for the victims," he said, stressing that he had repeatedly asked Israel for access to investigate the claims, with no response.

Iran has launched a capsule designed to carry living beings in a step towards sending astronauts into space, state media reported Wednesday -- the latest test of aerospace technology criticised by the West.

The capsule was successfully sent up to a height of 130 kilometres (80 miles), the IRNA news agency quoted Telecommunications Minister Issa Zarepour as saying.

He said the launch of the 500-kilo capsule on a new class of domestically built space rocket named "Salman" could pave the way for a human spaceflight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Saudi Arabia Wednesday after visiting the United Arab Emirates, making a rare trip abroad as Moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.

It is only the third trip the Russian leader has taken outside the former Soviet Union since he invaded Ukraine, following visits to Iran and China, and comes as Moscow seeks to bolster its influence in the Middle East.

Putin was seen greeting the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, before the two briefly sat down for televised talks.

A Thai couple were welcomed home Wednesday by dozens of well-wishers seeking to lift their spirits after they were held hostage for weeks by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But the return of Boonthom Pankhong and Natthawaree Mulkan, who had worked in Israel, was overshadowed by worries they might not be able to pay off their mounting debt -- unless they work abroad again.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living in "utter, deepening horror", the UN human rights chief said Wednesday, as he pleaded for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Volker Turk said there was a high risk of atrocity crimes being committed in such "catastrophic" humanitarian circumstances."

Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in Gaza's main southern city on Wednesday in some of the most intense combat of the two-month-old war sparked by the October 7 attacks.

The focus of the conflict has shifted into the besieged territory's south following fierce fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced 1.9 million people to flee.

Israeli forces were encircling southern Gaza's main city on Wednesday, battling Hamas militants through streets and buildings in some of the most intense combat of the two-month war.

The focus of the conflict has shifted into the besieged territory's south following fierce fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes.