By Ramadan Abed , Mahmoud Issa and Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA/CAIRO, April 1 (Reuters) - They've never known their parents, and they've never known Gaza, born prematurely two years ago and evacuated to Egypt as Israeli forces drew dangerously close to their neonatal care unit.

That changed on Monday, when the 11 children, now toddlers, reunited with their families in Gaza as part of a U.N.-organized mission that brought tears of joy and celebration, as well as a close to one of the war's most painful chapters.

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI to be behind a foiled attack on Bank of America's Paris offices, its anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday, although it stressed the link has not yet been formally established.

HAYI, which stands for Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, had posted a propaganda video on social media on March 23 targeting Jewish interests and communities in France and Europe, the prosecutor's office said in a statement to Reuters.

By John Irish

PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - Bahrain has circulated a revised U.N. Security Council draft resolution on protecting commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, retaining language authorising “all necessary means” but dropping an explicit reference to binding enforcement.

Shipping through the waterway, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass and which underpins Gulf economies, has already slowed to a near‑halt after Iran struck vessels amid its conflict with the United States and Israel.

Britain will on Thursday hold a virtual a meeting of about 35 countries to discuss how to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz which has been crippled by the Middle East war.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the meeting earlier Wednesday, while a UK official told AFP the meeting would be virtual and held on Thursday.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the discussions, Starmer told reporters during a Downing Street news conference.

LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he was strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO after allies failed to back U.S. military action against Iran, according to an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Trump described the alliance as a "paper tiger" and said removing the United States from the defence pact was now "beyond reconsideration," the newspaper reported. He said he had long held doubts about NATO's credibility.

The Philippines has sought safe passage for desperately needed oil shipments in a meeting with Iran, a presidential spokeswoman said Wednesday, as the import-dependent archipelago jockeys with other regional countries for fuel.

The price of fuel has hit historic highs in the Philippines since treaty ally the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, with Tehran effectively closing the vital Strait of Hormuz to traffic since.

A study commissioned by Greenpeace said on Wednesday that oil companies have been making more than 80 million euros a day in "war profits" in the European Union since the start of the war in the Middle East.

"If this level persists, the oil companies can expect additional operating profits of approximately 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion) for the month of March alone," the study said.

The study examined the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of fuel at the pump between January and February 2026, and the first three weeks of the war in March.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Hezbollah claims attacks -

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday, targeting troops and a village.

The Israeli military's Home Front Command said air raid sirens were activated across the border. There were no reports of any casualties or damage.

- Israel under Iran missile fire -

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday the US-Israeli war campaign against Iran was almost complete but that the country would be hit hard over the next two to three weeks as Washington pressed toward its military objectives.

Speaking in his first national address since the war began on February 28, Trump sought to reassure war-weary Americans that the offensive was worth the effort.

"Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly," Trump said from the White House.

Pope Leo XIV is preparing to celebrate Easter for the first time as pontiff a year after his predecessor's death, as concerns grow among Christians over the Middle East war.

Holy Week began with a clash in the Holy Land as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was denied entry to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by Israeli authorities in what he called a first "in centuries".

On Tuesday, Leo said he hoped that US President Donald Trump was "looking for an off-ramp" to end the war, as he called for an end to the violence.