Iranian dissidents living inside the Islamic republic and in exile Thursday went on hunger strike to protest the surge of hangings in Iran that included most recently a participant in the 2022 protest movement who activists say had mental health difficulties.

Led by jailed 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, those going on the one-day hunger strike ranged from dozens of her cellmates in Tehran's Evin prison to prominent campaigners living outside the country.

Hamas's release of a polished document justifying its devastating October 7 attacks shows the Islamist group is positioning itself for a post-war political role, a senior official and analysts say.

Following the publication of "Our Narrative... Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" in measured, well-written English and later in French, as well as Arabic, a senior Hamas official explained that the group, which Israel has vowed to crush, seeks to retain a say.

British arms export licences to Israel are under growing scrutiny over claims that international law has been broken in the war in Gaza, with a court set to rule on the divisive matter.

The contentious issue surfaced on Wednesday when an opposition Labour lawmaker accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having "the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands".

Protesters this week confronted delegates outside a London defence industry conference.

Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Thursday that Israeli forces had killed 20 people waiting for humanitarian aid to be distributed, as Israel pressed its blistering assault in the territory.

Israel has launched a relentless offensive in Gaza in response to the Palestinian militant group Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attacks.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the attack occurred on the outskirts of Gaza City, in the north of the territory, with 150 people also wounded.

Hamas said the incident amounted to a "horrific war crime".

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday said a spate of attacks targeting US-led troops in Iraq assisting the campaign against Islamic State group jihadists "need to stop".

"We are extremely worried by the constant attacks against international military bases," Albares said on a visit to Iraq, where his government has troops deployed.

"Attacks against foreign troops need to stop."

More than 150 attacks have targeted US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

The news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question: is this a minor policy tweak, or a major upheaval?

Sources familiar with preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on Wednesday, as a document circulated indicating just how carefully leaders of the teetotalling Gulf kingdom will manage its operations.

Israeli air strikes and ground operations were focused Thursday on the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, where the UN said nine people were killed by tank shelling at one of its shelters the day before.

The deadly incident came after the Israeli army said it had encircled the city, where footage released by the military showed soldiers engaged in urban combat amid ruined buildings.

Hamas's press office also reported fierce clashes in the centre and west of Khan Yunis, while its health ministry counted multiple deaths overnight from strikes in the city and elsewhere in the territory.

On a stage inside the historical centre of Jeddah, the main gateway for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca, rapper Ty Dolla $ign asked his screaming Saudi fans a few questions.

"Where the hot girls at?" the dreadlocked 41-year-old American (real name: Tyrone William Griffin Jr) bellowed into the microphone during his set at the Balad Beast music festival.

"How many of you trying to get lit after the show tonight? How many of you trying to get faded?"

Moving away from dark clothing, Iranian designers are trying to strike a fine balance between a growing trend favouring bright colours and the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

"As a young woman, I choose clothes in a modern design with bright colours," 22-year-old designer Hadis Hassanlou told AFP at a fashion exhibition in the historic Saadabad Palace in Tehran.

Since shortly after the 1979 revolution, women in Iran have had to observe a strict dress code and wear loose-fitting garments while also covering the head and neck.

Yemen's Huthis fired three missiles at two merchant ships in the Red Sea on Wednesday in their latest attack in the commercially vital waterway, the White House and the Iran-backed rebels said.

It came after the Huthis vowed to keep up their attacks despite repeated US and British strikes against them.

One missile missed its target and a US Navy destroyer shot down the other two, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

The continuing Huthi action "means we're obviously still going to have to do what we have to do to protect that shipping," he added.