By Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer and musician who built a distinct Lebanese sound from Western and Arabic musical roots, and whose sardonic critique of the country's sectarian politics rang true to Lebanese across the divides, has died.

He was 69.

Rahbani was much-loved across Lebanon and his words remained relevant across generations, from those who grew up with him during the 1975-90 Civil War, to the post-war generation who have struggled to shake the war's legacy.

The United Nations and NGOs are warning of an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip -- a designation based on strict criteria and scientific evidence.

But the difficulty of getting to the most affected areas in the Palestinian territory, besieged by Israel, means there are huge challenges in gathering the required data.

- What is a famine? -

The internationally-agreed definition for famine is outlined by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative of 21 organisations and institutions including UN agencies and aid groups.

(Reuters) -Syrian and Israeli officials agreed to meet again after no final accord was reached in U.S.-mediated talks in Paris on de-escalating the conflict in southern Syria, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Saturday, citing a diplomatic source.

The source described the dialogue as "honest and responsible", in the first confirmation from the Syrian side that talks had taken place.

On Friday, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said officials from both countries spoke about de-escalating the situation in Syria during the talks on Thursday.

Renowned Lebanese musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, son of music icon Fairuz and pioneer of Oriental jazz, died on Saturday aged 69 after revolutionising Lebanese theatre and music.

"On Saturday at 9:00 am (0600 GMT), the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating," said a statement from the Beirut hospital where he was being treated.

He had long suffered from health problems.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed 25 people on Saturday in the Palestinian territory devastated by more than 21 months of war.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the dead included nine people killed in three separate air strikes in Gaza City.

Eleven people were killed in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Yunis, while two were killed in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp, he added.

By John Irish and Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters) -President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would become the first Western member of the United Nations Security Council to recognise a Palestinian state in September has caused diplomatic ructions from the Middle East through Europe to Washington.

But it did not come out of the blue.

When Macron visited the Egyptian town of Al-Arish on the border with Gaza in April, he was struck by the mounting humanitarian crisis and made clear on his return home that Paris would soon opt for recognition.

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognising the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.

"I am very much in favour of the State of Palestine but I am not in favour of recognising it prior to establishing it," Meloni told Italian daily La Repubblica.

"If something that doesn't exist is recognised on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn't," Meloni added.

Fired by France's imminent recognition of Palestinian statehood, UN members meet next week to breathe life into the push for a two-state solution as Israel, expected to be absent, presses its war in Gaza.

Days before the July 28-30 conference on fostering Israeli and Palestinian states living peacefully side-by-side to be co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would formally recognize the State of Palestine in September.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -Hundreds of Tunisian activists protested in the capital on Friday against President Kais Saied, denouncing his rule as an "authoritarian regime" that has turned the country into an “open-air prison”.

Under the slogan “The Republic is a large prison,” protesters marched along Habib Bourguiba Avenue. They demanded the release of jailed opposition leaders, journalists, and activists.

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusationsthat staff with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Palestinian militants Hamas, accordingto a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.