March 17 (Reuters) - A diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, Anwar Gargash, said on Tuesday that his country could join an international effort led by the U.S. to ensure the safety and security of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking in an online event organised by the American think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Gargash said that the UAE does not currently have active talks with Iran.

His comments come amid growing concerns over the security of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell)

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, March 17 (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday the country had effectively won its war with Iran, but gave no indication of when the conflict might end, saying only that the campaign would continue until its objectives were achieved.

Speaking at a news conference, Saar said Israel was seeking to remove "existential threats", but did not say how the government would determine when those goals had been met.

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - The British government on Tuesday opened an inquiry into how details of a top-secret national security meeting to discuss a U.S. request to use British military bases at the start of the Iran conflict were leaked to a journalist.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially blocked the U.S. from using the air base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in England, before later allowing the U.S. to use the bases for "defensive" strikes against Iranian targets.

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trumpon Tuesday said he was postponing a highly anticipated trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the war with Iran upends U.S. foreign policy and delays an effort to ease tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

"We are resetting the meeting ... We're working with China. They were fine with it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

By Feras Dalatey , Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Reuters) - The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions, five people briefed onthe matter said.

US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at "foolish" NATO over Iran, saying the United States needs no help after allies rebuffed his calls to join efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said most US allies had rejected his push to escort ships through the crucial waterway, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying his country would "never" do so until the situation was calmer.

"I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake," Trump told reporters as he hosted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office.

ANKARA, March 17 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reiterated that Turkey is ready to host the next round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, Turkey's foreign ministry said.

Fidan underlined the risks posed by the prolonged war for both regional countries and the international order, while the ministers also addressed issues related to energy security, according to the ministry.

March 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. had been informed by most of its NATO allies that they did not want to get involved with the country's military operation in Iran.

"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, also singling out Japan, Australia and South Korea.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto;Editing by David Ljunggren)

BERLIN, March 17 (Reuters) - More than 36,000 Palestinians in the West Bank were forcibly displaced over a year by Israeli settlement expansion and associated violence, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday.

The United Nations said in a report covering 12 months to October 31, 2025, that Israel had accelerated the annexation of large parts of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The report cites monitoring and information gathering by the U.N.'s regional office, government sources and NGOs as its sources.

By Dan Peleschuk

March 17 (Reuters) - Streaking across the sky with a terrifying wail, a Ukrainian-made quadrocopter swerves with unlikely agility for a device resembling a winged lava lamp.

Once a long-shot concept, the interceptor drone developed by private firm Wild Hornets is now key to Ukraine's defence against Russian drones - and soon, possibly, to combatting Iranian ones in the Gulf.