The Christian quarter in south Lebanon's Tyre, the last pocket of the coastal city spared from Israeli threats, was emptied out on Tuesday after an unprecedented warning for the city's residents.

"We've packed our things, and we're leaving," resident Elias Barbour told AFP.

"What have we done wrong? What are we supposed to do?" he added, saying that he would go to his sister's home in Beirut "for a few days to see what happens".

A lavish spending spree brought star players and attention to Saudi Arabia, but it has not reaped rewards for the national team who arrive at the World Cup desperate to reverse a run of poor results.

The oil-rich kingdom pumped around $2 billion in three years into football, signing Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema on huge fees as it sought to turn the Saudi Pro League into one of the world's best.

Saudi Arabia also won hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, a major boost for its plan to diversify its economy by attracting tourists and business.

France Tuesday banned Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, as part of coordinated sanctions with other countries over settler violence against Palestinians.

Smotrich is the second member of the Israeli government to be forbidden from entering France in recent months, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was barred on May 23 for mocking activists detained by Israeli soldiers from a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid for the Palestinian territory.

By Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he was "deeply alarmed" by a renewed escalation of violence in the Middle East and called on Israel to reopen crossings into Gaza.

"All attacks must stop immediately. The ceasefires in Lebanon, Iran & Gaza must be fully respected," he said in a post on X.

Israel struck targets in Iran on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in April, after Iran fired missiles at Israel in what Tehran said was retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanon's capital.

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar

KABUL, June 9 (Reuters) - Afghan security officials dispersed a women's rights protest in the western province of Herat on Tuesday after residents said Taliban morality police detained women accused of violating mandatory dress rules.

Witnesses said one person was killed, several others were wounded and dozens of people, including women and girls, were arrested. Taliban authorities have not confirmed casualties or arrests.

BEIRUT, June 9 (Reuters) - Israel struck the historic port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killing at least eight people, the Lebanese health ministry said, after an Israeli evacuation order for the entire city was issued for the first time.

The deaths followed a single strike on the city's eastern edge, the ministry and state media said, in one of the deadliest Israeli bombing raids on Tyre since the war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah erupted on March 2.

Iran attacked US bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday, the latest salvo in tit-for-tat strikes with the United States after the downing of a US helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.

The worst bout of fighting between Washington and Tehran since their April 8 ceasefire has cast further doubt on US President Donald Trump's earlier claim that negotiations were in their "final throes" before reaching an enduring settlement to end the Middle East war.

ANKARA, June 9 (Reuters) - The arch-rival leaders of Turkey's main opposition - one of them elected and the other controversially court-appointed - both announced plans to address party lawmakers at competing meetings on Tuesday, in a stand-offthat could deepen a crisis among President Tayyip Erdogan's challengers.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers, a U.N. inquiry said on Tuesday.

The report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli authorities have enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by judicial and law-enforcement bodies.

The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation on Tuesday as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on.

Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday to meet his powerful Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir, with a Lebanon-based source telling AFP the visit was linked to the broader peace talks.