Five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory this year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented a "difficult morning" as he visited Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, who is pressing for a ceasefire in the more than 21-month war.

"All of Israel bows its head and mourns the fall of our heroic soldiers, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages," Netanyahu posted on X.

The United States on Monday announced it was revoking its "foreign terrorist organization" designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group once linked to Al-Qaeda that toppled Syria's government in December.

"In line with President (Donald) Trump's May 13 promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, I am announcing my intent to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.

US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war by threatening more than a dozen countries with higher tariffs Monday -- but then said he may be flexible on his new August deadline to reach deals.

Trump sent letters to trading partners including key US allies Japan and South Korea, announcing that duties he had suspended in April would snap back even more steeply in three weeks.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview released on Monday that Israel, which last month fought a 12-day war with Iran, had attempted to assassinate him.

The remarks came less than a month after Israel launched its unprecedented June 13 bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

The Israeli attacks took place two days before Tehran and Washington were set to meet for a new round of nuclear talks, stalling negotiations that were aimed at reaching a deal over Iran's atomic programme.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM party Monday to discuss the next steps after PKK militants agreed to end their decades-long insurgency.

DEM, Turkey's third-biggest party, has played a key role in facilitating an emerging peace deal between the government and jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, whose Kurdish militant group is expected to begin laying down its weapons later this week.

US envoy Thomas Barrack said Monday he was satisfied by the response of Lebanon's authorities to a request to disarm Hezbollah, although warned Lebanon risked being left behind as change sweeps other countries in the region.

Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing Palestinians displaced after 21 months of war.

Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory's population of more than two million.

US President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war.

Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalize on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran.

"I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well," Trump told reporters at the start of the dinner when asked what was preventing a peace deal.

As a teenager, Eid Mertah would pore over books about King Tutankhamun, tracing hieroglyphs and dreaming of holding the boy pharaoh's golden mask in his hands.

Years later, the Egyptian conservator found himself gently brushing centuries-old dust off one of Tut's gilded ceremonial shrines -- a piece he had only seen in textbooks.

"I studied archaeology because of Tut," Mertah, 36, told AFP. "It was my dream to work on his treasures -- and that dream came true."

Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) of forest had "turned to ash" in wildfires as firefighters from neighbouring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia.

Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain in the coastal province and the danger of explosive war remnants, in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.