(Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Wednesday it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, as sirens were activated in Tel Aviv and several other areas across the country.

Yemen's Houthis later claimed responsibility, saying they fired two ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in what they said was an initial response to Israeli attacks on Yemen.

"This morning ... a field examination concluded that the Houthi terrorist regime used a cluster surface-to-surface missile", the military said in a statement late on Wednesday.

CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas reiterated on Wednesday that it is ready for a comprehensive Gaza deal through which all Israeli hostages are released in exchange for the release of an agreed upon number of Palestinian prisoners.

The group's remarks came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Hamas to release all 20 hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office criticized Hamas' comments in a statement.

"Unfortunately, this is yet another spin by Hamas with nothing new in it," it said.

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Wednesday ruled U.S. President Donald Trump's administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University and can no longer cut off research funding to the prestigious Ivy League school.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it seeks to cut a deal that could bring an end to the White House's multi-front conflict with the nation's oldest and richest university.

Israel estimates that its imminent offensive on Gaza City would displace one million Palestinians, a senior military official said Wednesday, as Gaza's civil defence reported dozens killed across the territory.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli protestors took to the streets to call for a truce and hostage release deal after nearly two years of war.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York announced Wednesday an agreement to perform in Saudi Arabia and provide artistic training in the oil-rich kingdom as it works to shore up a creaky financial outlook.

The prestigious cultural institution, which received a Moody's credit downgrade just days ago, will travel to Riyadh for five years to perform during the opera house's winter break under an agreement with the Saudi Music Commission.

The performances will be at the Royal Diriyah Opera House, which is expected to open in 2028.

US director Julian Schnabel has hit out at calls to boycott Scottish actor Gerard Butler who has been targeted by activists for his alleged previous support for the Israeli military.

Butler gives a gripping performance as a hit man in Schnabel's latest film -- "In The Hand of Dante" -- which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday.

"It's unfortunate," Schnabel told AFP of the boycott calls by activist group Venice4Palestine which has cited Butler's appearance at a fund-raising event for the Israeli military in 2018.

(Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen that triggered sirens across several areas of Israel.

Since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023, Houthi forces who control most of Yemen have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes on Houthi-controlled territory in the Arabian Peninsula country.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at his Belgium counterpart on Wednesday, calling him "a weak leader who seeks to appease Islamic terrorism by sacrificing Israel" a day after Brussels announced it would recognise a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's government has been angered by pledges from France, Britain, Canada, Australia, and now Belgium, to formally recognise a Palestinian state when world leaders gather this month at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) -The U.N. nuclear watchdog's talks with Iran on how to resume inspections at sites including those Israel and the United States bombed cannot go on for months on end, its chief told Reuters on Wednesday, pushing for a deal as early as this week.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has had no information from Iran on the status or whereabouts of its stock of highly enriched uranium since Israel launched the first attacks on its enrichment sites on June 13, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed in an interview.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's far-right finance minister said on Wednesday that maps were being drawn up for annexing territory in the occupied West Bank, land the Palestinians seek for a state, although it was unclear if he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's support.

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Bezalel Smotrich stood before a map that suggested the possible annexation of most of the West Bank with the exception of six large Palestinian cities, including Ramallah and Nablus.