Seven months after deadly clashes between Syria's Druze minority and government‑backed forces, the spiritual leader of Druze in neighbouring Israel said members of the community across the border remained in peril.

"They're still besieged -- completely encircled. They aren't allowed to bring in any humanitarian aid, including the aid we're trying to deliver," Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif told AFP in an interview this week.

At a military base in northeast Syria, Roksan Mohammed recalled joining the battle against Islamic State group jihadists. Now her all-woman fighting unit is at risk after a deal with Damascus ended the Kurds' de facto autonomy.

"We made many sacrifices," said Mohammed, spokesperson for the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), who stood with a gun slung over her shoulder.

"Thousands of martyrs shed their blood, including many of my close comrades," the 37-year-old added.

FIFA will spearhead a $75 million fund to rebuild soccer facilities in Gaza that were destroyed by the war between Israel and Hamas, President Donald Trump and the sport's governing body said Thursday.

Trump made the announcement in Washington at the first meeting of his "Board of Peace," an amorphous institution that features two dozen of the US president's close allies and is initially focused on rebuilding the Gaza strip.

"I'm also pleased to announce that FIFA will be helping to raise a total of $75 million for projects in Gaza," said Trump.

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Iran told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday that Tehran will consider bases, facilities and assets of the "hostile force" in the region as legitimate targets if it faces military aggression.

U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric towards Iran "signals a real risk of military aggression," Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations said in the letter, adding Iran did not want a war.

Iran will respond "decisively" if subjected to military aggression, the letter said.

By Rami Ayyub

JERUSALEM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - More than 75,000 Palestinians were killed in the first 15 months of Israel's military assault in Gaza, a figure far higher than the 49,000 deaths local health officials announced at the time, says a new study by The Lancet Global Health medical journal.

The peer-reviewed study, published on Wednesday, found that women, children and the elderly comprised some 56.2% of violent deaths in Gaza during that period, a composition that it said roughly aligned with reporting by Gaza's health ministry.

By Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has told Congress he is pursuing a civil nuclear pact with Saudi Arabia that does not include non-proliferation safeguards the U.S. has long said would ensure the kingdom does not develop nuclear weapons, according to a copy of the document sent to Congress and reviewed by Reuters.

Trump, a Republican, and former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, have worked with Saudi Arabia on paths to building the first civil nuclear power plants for the kingdom.

By Bo Erickson, Trevor Hunnicutt and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - World leaders who accepted the invitation of President Donald Trump to join his new peace board were greeted in Washington on Thursday with a mix of fanfare and personal flattery.

While the U.S. president has been chummy with world leaders in the past, he has typically leaned in to a good-cop-bad-cop routine, alternating between praise and threats as his interests dictate. On Thursday, those in attendance saw Trump at his most convivial.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A Tunisian court on Thursday sentenced lawmaker Ahmed Saidani to eight months in prison over social media posts mocking President Kais Saied, a ruling that opponents say signals an intensifying crackdown on critics.

Once a supporter of Saied’s policies against political opponents, Saidani has become a vocal critic, accusing the president of seeking to monopolise all decision-making while leaving others to bear the blame for problems.

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Belarus, a close ally of Russia rarely invited to international gatherings, said on Thursday it had intended to attend the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace in Washington but failed to receive the necessary visas.

Belarus has long been subject to Western sanctions over its human rights record and punitive measures were intensified after President Alexander Lukashenko allowed his country's territory to be used for Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

A Turkish journalist with German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) was jailed by an Istanbul court Friday on charges of "insulting the president", an NGO said a day after his arrest by 30 police officers.

Alican Uludag was arrested in Ankara on Thursday evening following a warrant issued by the Istanbul public prosecutor's office, which said it had opened an investigation into him for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and "disseminating false news" in connection with "certain posts" on X.