Australia lashed Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after he said the country's prime minister was weak, with a top minister saying strength was more than "how many people you can blow up".

For decades, Australia has considered itself a close friend of Israel, but the relationship has swiftly unravelled since Canberra announced last week it would recognise a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu drastically escalated a war of words on Tuesday night, calling his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese a "weak politician who betrayed Israel".

Syria's foreign minister met with an Israeli delegation in Paris to discuss de-escalation and the situation in Druze-majority Sweida province after deadly sectarian violence last month, state media reported Wednesday.

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer attended the meeting on Tuesday, along with Syria's intelligence chief, Syrian state television said, citing an unnamed government source.

CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria's foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani, met an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday to discuss bolstering stability in the region and southern Syria, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.

Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting U.S.-mediated talks on de-escalating the conflict in southern Syria.

The discussions between the Israeli and Syrian sides focused on de-escalation and non-interference in Syrian domestic affairs.

(Reporting by MEnna Alaa El Din; Writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Leslie Adler)

A row between Israel and France over Paris's plan to recognise a Palestinian state next month escalated to crisis level on Tuesday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Emmanuel Macron of fomenting "antisemitism".

The Elysee hit back, calling Netanyahu's allegation "abject" and "erroneous".

"This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation," the French presidency added.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States continues to discuss a ceasefire proposal for a 60-day truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas that the Palestinian militant group has accepted, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that Hamas accepted this proposal after the president of the United States posted a very strong statement about this conflict on Truth Social yesterday," Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing at the White House.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; writing by Ryan Patrick Jones)

By Kanishka Singh and Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department said on Monday the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor.

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation "targeting child sex predators," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upbraided President Emmanuel Macron in a letter seen by AFP on Tuesday, blaming the French leader's move to recognise a Palestinian state for fuelling antisemitism.

A French minister responded by saying that the fight against antisemitism must not be "exploited".

Late last month, Macron said France would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, drawing a swift rebuke from Israel.

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -As Israel seeks to expand its offensive in Gaza, a measure of how the country's mood has changed in the nearly two-year-old conflict is the discontent evident among some reservists being called up to serve once again.

Shortly after the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israelis dropped everything -- honeymoons, studies and new lives abroad -- to rush home and fight.

August 19 (Reuters) -The Gaza ceasefire proposal Hamas accepted on Monday - with an Israeli response expected by the end of the week - is for a 60-day truce, a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop pullouts from parts of Gaza, and discussions on ending the conflict.

The deal is nearly identical to a proposal Washington put forward earlier this year, a spokesperson for mediator Qatar said on Tuesday. Hamas rejected that deal in July.

GENEVA (Reuters) -Aid worker killings rose nearly a third to almost 400 last year, the most deadly year since records began in 1997, and the conflict in Gaza is continuing to cause high death rates for humanitarian staff in 2025, U.N. and other data showed.

In 2024, 383 aid workers were killed, nearly half of them in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, the U.N. said on Tuesday, citing a database.