Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, after killing his predecessor earlier this month despite an ongoing ceasefire.
Since Hamas's October 2023 attack, Israel has systematically targeted the group's leaders, both in Gaza and across the region.
Odeh is the fourth head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades that Israel says it has killed since the start of the Gaza war.
Muslim faithful took part in the climactic ritual of the annual hajj pilgrimage on Wednesday, symbolically stoning the devil near Mecca.
From dawn, crowds of pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina, southeast of the holy city of Mecca, 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.
By Rami Ayyub, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jana Choukeir
JERUSALEM/CAIRO, May 27 (Reuters) - Israel said on Wednesday it had killed Hamas's newly appointed armed wing chief in Gaza, days after it killed his predecessor, while intensifying military pressure in Gaza and expanding operations in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said Mohammad Odeh was killed in an operation in Gaza on Tuesday.
Cairo's new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and ageing buses' exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below.
The $4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt's most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticised for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country's 109 million people.
"It feels like you're in a different country," said Ramy Sayed, 44, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train.
New clothes for children, sacrificial sheep and Eid biscuits, the hallmarks of the Muslim holiday, are all either unaffordable or unavailable in Gaza, casting a shadow over what is usually a time of celebration and joy.
"I go to the market only to look around because I cannot afford to buy anything. Whenever I ask about prices, I return heartbroken," Nadia Abu Shamala, a Palestinian resident of Gaza, told AFP.
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday condemned the attack on Barakah Nuclear Plant in the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement, adding that theattack constituted a violation of international law.
The council did not attribute blame for the attack.
DUBAI/OSLO, May 26 (Reuters) - United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Tuesday that a tanker had reported an external explosion on the vessel's port side, close to the waterline, 60 nautical miles off Oman's capital Muscat.
UKMTO said the vessel, identified as the Olympic Life, and its crew were safe, although the tanker reported some bunker fuel had been discharged into the sea. It said the cause of the incident was unknown.
May 26 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel carried out an attack against Hamas new armed wing chief in Gaza.
He did not provide further details.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub)
By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM, May 26 (Reuters) - Israel's largest defence contractor is developing hardware to combat explosive Hezbollah drones that have killed Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, including through the potential use of laser-based defence systems, its CEO told Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has used the cheap, easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones to attack Israeli troops which have remained in southern Lebanon since an April 16 truce. Difficult for air defences to thwart, the drones are also being used to deadly effect in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
By Jana Choukeir
May 26 (Reuters) - The Israeli military has expanded its ground operations in southern Lebanon beyond a demarcation line that Israel set up several kilometres inside Lebanese territory after an April 16 ceasefire with Hezbollah, two sources said on Tuesday.
The sources gave no further details on the extent of the advance beyond the so-called "Yellow Line".
