VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo made a "strong appeal" to the global community on Wednesday to end the nearly two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas, calling for a permanent ceasefire, release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid.

"I once again issue a strong appeal ... so that an end may be put to the conflict in the Holy Land, which has caused so much terror, destruction, and death," the pontiff said in his weekly audience at the Vatican.

By Emilie Madi and Maya Gebeily

RIYAK, Lebanon (Reuters) -Elias Maalouf crouched to examine a shrivelling grapevine in his ancestral vineyard in the sun-kissed plains of eastern Lebanon. Last year, Israeli air strikes kept him from picking most of the grapes. Now, a drought has slashed his harvest.

"Whether it's a political war or a climate war, we're suffering on all sides," said Maalouf, 42, whose family has been making wine for six generations.

The Venice Film Festival kicked off Wednesday with Hollywood royalty arriving for Italy's glitzy movie showcase where a strong line up of star-packed films will vie with protests about the Gaza war for public attention.

Julia Roberts and George Clooney are some of the biggest names at the 82nd edition of the world's longest-running festival, with top directors from Kathryn Bigelow to Jim Jarmusch all due on the sandy Lido across the Venice lagoon.

Bosnia's national museum has defended a decision to donate funds from the display of a precious Jewish manuscript to the people of Gaza.

It said ticket sales to see the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the most precious religious manuscripts of the Middle Ages, would be donated to "support the people of Palestine who suffer systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel".

The move drew intense criticism earlier this month from Jewish organisations, with some abroad accusing the museum of antisemitism.

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia on Wednesday dismissed suggestions by Israel that its interventions prompted Canberra to expel Iran's ambassador as it blamed Tehran for directing at least two antisemitic arson attacks in the country's biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

"Complete nonsense," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio, when asked about Israel claiming credit for Australia's decision to order Tehran's ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi to leave the country.

By Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday President Donald Trump will chair a meeting on Gaza at the White House on Wednesday and added that Washington expected Israel's war in the Palestinian territory to be settled by the end of the year.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Trump had promised a swift end to the war in Gaza during the 2024 U.S. election campaign and after taking office in January but almost seven months into his term, that stated goal remains elusive.

(Reuters) -Hussam al-Masri, the Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday while operating a live video feed at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, reported on the war's civilian suffering while himself living in a tent and struggling to find food for his family.

Masri, 49, was an experienced cameraman whose positive approach in the most dangerous situations made him popular among Gaza's tight-knit community of reporters, journalist colleagues said.

(Reuters) -Hamas denied on Tuesday that any of the Palestinians killed in Israel's attack on Gaza's Nasser hospital on Monday were militants.

Earlier, Israel said it had killed six militants in the attack but it was investigating how civilians, including five journalists, were killed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a "tragic mishap."

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that Tehran told Europe's top three powers the revival of the "snapback" mechanism, re-mposing UN sanctions on Iran, will have consequences.

Baghaei said Tehran told Europeans during a meeting in Geneva they do not have the right to trigger the mechanism, adding both sides would continue nuclear talks in the coming days.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Chris Reese)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the August 7, 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa cannot seize $3.5 billion of Afghanistan central bank assets to address the Taliban's role in the attacks, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.