They were spared from the bloody Hamas attack on October 7 and they are exempt from military service.

Yet some ultra-Orthodox Jews have chosen to renounce that controversial privilege and join the Israeli army.

Dozens gathered outside a recruitment office in Tel Aviv this week, responding to an appeal by the army to all those who might have skills useful in the war against Hamas.

The army said that, in the end, 120 had enrolled and would be assigned to support missions, nursing or driving.

French President Emmanuel Macron, on a solidarity visit to Israel after the October 7 attacks, called Tuesday for Palestinian militants Hamas to be added to the targets of an international coalition against the Islamic State group.

Macron also said there had to be a "decisive relaunch" of the Middle East peace process, following talks with leaders in Israel, whose army is building up to a likely ground invasion of the Gaza Strip with the declared aim of toppling Hamas.

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that any discussions about a Gaza ceasefire could only take place if Hamas frees all hostages seized from Israel in its October 7 attack.

"We should have those hostages released and then we can talk," Biden said at a White House event when asked if he would support a "hostages-for-ceasefire" deal.

Biden then apologized for having to leave the event to promote his economic program ahead of next year's election, saying he had to go to the White House Situation Room for "another issue I have to deal with."

The United States accused Iran on Monday of "actively facilitating" attacks on US forces in the Middle East as it confirmed it had sent a small number of military advisors to Israel.

US concerns have been rising about the potential for escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas militants, although Washington has rejected calls for a ceasefire as it says that ally Israel has a right to self-defense.

Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been gaining pace as Israel battles Hamas militants in Gaza. But does the powerful Lebanese movement really seek to enter open conflict with Israel?

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign has killed more than 5,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israeli alarm sirens often blare across Elanit Kalfon's farm near the Lebanese border as tensions flare with Hezbollah, but she is refusing to leave her land or her 1,200 goats.

Kalfon lives in the village of Goren, less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from the UN-monitored border that some fear could become a new conflict front for Israel.

Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and Israeli soldiers have been firing artillery at each other across the frontier each day since Israel's war with Hamas erupted on October 7.

Qatar Airways' longstanding chief executive Akbar Al Baker is to step down from his role, the state-owned airline announced on Monday.

In a statement, Qatar Airways confirmed Baker, who served the airline for 27 years, "will be stepping down from his current position as group chief executive officer effective November 5th, 2023".

It added that he will be succeeded in the position by Badr Mohammed al-Meer, who is currently chief operating officer of Doha's Hamad International Airport.

Israel is determined to crush Hamas but has said little about what would replace its rule in Gaza after the war, with observers expecting Washington will play a decisive role.

"One thing is clear: the Gaza Strip will not be ruled by Hamas once this war is over," Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told AFP as Israel's military steps up strikes in preparation for a widely-expected ground offensive.

Under cover of darkness in the western districts of Paris, activists armed with buckets of glue and thousands of posters get to work.

They're spending their Sunday night plastering the walls with headshots of Israelis and others who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, in a bid to keep their fate in the public eye.

"We can never shout it enough, never say it enough, never show their faces enough," said Lea Hanoune of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF).

Press freedom groups Monday condemned as "outrageous" the lengthy jail sentences handed to the two Iranian journalists who exposed the case of Mahsa Amini, saying both women were merely doing their jobs.

Amini died in September 2022 in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress rules for women.

Her death, which activists say was caused by a blow to the head in accusations denied by Tehran, sparked months of protests which have now lost intensity in the face of a fierce crackdown.