By Jonathan Saul

ATHENS, May 27 (Reuters) - An oil products tanker operated by Chinese shipping group COSCO was in the process of crossing through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, after two crude tankers sailed in the past day, although oil traffic overall was still limited, shipping data showed.

Before the war on Iran began on February 28, shipping traffic through the Strait averaged 125 to 140 daily passages. Due to the conflict, 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Gulf on board hundreds of ships.

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday said a report from Iran's state TV citing a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States was "not true" and that the cited memorandum was "a complete fabrication."

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Susan Heavey)

By Elwely Elwelly and Jana Choukeir

May 27 (Reuters) - Tehran would restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month in a framework deal with the U.S. to also include withdrawing U.S. forces from Iran's vicinity, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday.

The report said the U.S. would end a naval blockade of Iranian shipping, citing a memorandum of understanding being negotiated between the two sides to end the war which has choked global energy supplies through the strategic waterway.

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, May 27 (Reuters) - About a third of Palestinians killed by Israel since an October truce were in areas near the military's armistice line with Hamas, raising concerns that troops may be shooting at civilians merely for approaching the area, the U.N. human rights office said.

The office said such actions would constitute unlawful killings and thus war crimes. Israel's military, which says fire by its troops near the armistice line aims to thwart militant threats, did not immediately provide comment on the allegations.

By Elwely Elwelly, Emily Giles and Amy McConaghy

DUBAI/LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Iranians isolated by a long internet shutdown imposed by the authorities during the war with the U.S. and Israel expressed joy as social media came back to life in a country where even in normal times access to the outside world remains restricted via censorship of many websites.

"I’ve never been so happy in my life to see Telegram notifications," Kian Galvani, an engineering student, wrote on his account on X.

AMSTERDAM, May 27 (Reuters) - The Netherlands will send a minesweeper to the Mediterranean Sea as part of NATO operations to allow a possible rapid deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, should a mission there be agreed once the Iran war ends, ministers said on Wednesday in a letter to parliament.

• The minesweeper, departing this week, will be able to contribute to the NATO standing mine countermeasures group from mid-June, the letter from defence minister Dilan Yesligoz and foreign minister Tom Berendsen said.

DUBAI, May 27 (Reuters) - Iran's state TV said Tehran had obtained a draft of an initial unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding with the United States.

Under the framework, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, while the United States would withdraw military forces from Iran's vicinity and lift a naval blockade.

(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly, Writing by Jana Choukeir, Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

By Heejin Kim and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, May 27 (Reuters) - An Iranian anti-ship missile was likely involved in an attack on a cargo ship operated by local shipper HMM in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Saeed Koozechi, the Iranian ambassador to South Korea, denied Iran's role in the South Korean vessel attack saying his country "took no part" in it, local news agency Yonhap News reported.

The Iranian embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Muslim faithful ritually stoned the devil on Wednesday in the climactic ceremony of a hajj pilgrimage held in intense heat and against the backdrop of a war that has plunged the wealthy Gulf into crisis.

From dawn, crowds of pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina, southeast of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, to throw pebbles at concrete pillars symbolising the devil.

It reenacts the Prophet Abraham's stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

ISTANBUL, May 27 (Reuters) - The reinstated chair of Turkey's main opposition party Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Wednesday the party will hold a congress once legal conditions are met, after a court ousted the previous leadership, triggering an internal crisis and market volatility last week.

Kilicdaroglu told reporters that he will consult with the legal team of the Republican People's Party (CHP) to decide on the timing of the congress.