By Samia Nakhoul

BEIRUT, July 6 (Reuters) - The funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was more than a national farewell. The sea of mourners in Tehran sent a message to the United States and Israel that their attempt to break the Islamic Republic had failed.

Rather than looking weakened by the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran presented itself as defiant, unified and determined to shape what comes next.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO, July 6 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Monday it had dissolved its de facto government in Gaza and signalled it was ready to hand over to a group of Palestinian technocrats, as it presses Israel to honour other parts of a stalled U.S.-backed peace plan.

The group's promise to end the body overseeing ministries — which has run for more than a decade — was a key part of the plan for a post-war Gaza set out by U.S. President Donald Trump after the start of a fragile ceasefire with Israel in October.

JERUSALEM, July 6 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has threatened to fight a Supreme Court order regarding a media regulator, reigniting a judicial row that shook Israel in the months leading up to Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack.

The decision comes ahead of a national election expected by late October.

WHAT DID THE GOVERNMENT SAY?

In a statement on Sunday, the government said that a June 17 ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the composition of the Second Authority for Television and Radio was a clear case of judicial overreach.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - Seven protesters who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest against Israel's assault on Gaza were convicted of misdemeanor charges by a San Francisco jury that remained deadlocked on the more serious charge of felony conspiracy.

The jury convicted each of the seven protesters on six misdemeanor counts, including false imprisonment, obstruction of thoroughfare and unlawful assembly, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement on Thursday.

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

ROME, July 6 (Reuters) - Italy's defence minister stressed the importance of good transatlantic relations on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump again goaded erstwhile ally Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister.

Meloni last month accused Trump of fabricating a story about her after the U.S. president told an Italian TV channel that she had "begged" him to take a photo with her at a G7 summit in France.

By John Irish, Angelo Amante and Tuvan Gumrukcu

PARIS/ROME/ANKARA, July 6 (Reuters) - France is open to a possible sale of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air-defence system to Turkey after years of political opposition, according to five sources familiar with the matter, paving the way for more substantive talks with Ankara.

Four sources said the shift in position followed talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a summit on June 25 ahead of this week's NATO summit in Turkey, although negotiations remain at an early stage.

July 6 (Reuters) - Crowds of Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran on Monday in a funeral procession for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the biggest day yet in a week of massive memorial ceremonies demonstrating the grip of surviving clerical leaders.

Drone footage on state television showed many tens of thousands of people crammed into a boulevard in central Tehran.

The coffins of the slain leader and four of his family members were driven in a large truck through the streets, while fire hoses sprayed water from above to keep the marchers cool.

By Valentyn Ogirenko and Vladyslav Smilianets

KYIV, July 6 (Reuters) - Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv early on Monday, killing at least 11 people and heavily damaging apartment blocks, officials said, in an attack just a few days after the deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital this year.

The bombardment also comes ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey this week, where U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a renewed push to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

By Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS, July 6 (Reuters) - NATO leaders will gather in Ankara for a summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, amid pressure from President Donald Trump for Europe to step up defence spending and following months of transatlantic friction over the Iran warand Greenland.

The U.S.. president's frequent criticism of NATO, along with announced troop withdrawals from Europe and a six-month review of the U.S. military presence on the continent, has fuelled uncertainty within the alliance.

Here is what you need to know about the summit: