Pope Leo XIV embarks on his debut overseas trip Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon to promote Christian unity and urge peace efforts amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

The six-day trip is the first major international test for the US pope, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May and whose understated style contrasts with that of his charismatic and impulsive predecessor, Francis.

In Turkey, Leo will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Creed -- a foundational declaration of the Christian faith -- was written.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -Gunmen attacked a paramilitary force headquarters in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, police said.

The complex, the headquarters of the frontier constabulary paramilitary force, was also hit by two suicide bombers, sources told Reuters, adding that three people had been killed.

"The first suicide bomber first carried out an attack on the main entrance of the constabulary and the other one entered the compound," a senior official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

(Corrects sourcing in paragraph 2 to Israeli military)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's military chief on Sunday dismissed several senior military personnel and reprimanded others over their roles in the failures on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from Gaza.

A number of officers were told they would be released from reserve duty and would no longer serve in the military, the military said in a statement. Others were issued formal reprimands while one was informed that their service would be ended. Another tendered his resignation.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The Israeli military on Sunday killed Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital that came despite a year-long ceasefire.

His killing was announced by Israel's military. Hezbollah has not commented on his fate, although Lebanese security sources confirmed he was the target of Israel's strike.

Israel had already eliminated most of Iran-backed Hezbollah's leadership during a war that raged between October 2023 and November 2024, when a U.S.-brokered truce was agreed.

Israel killed Hezbollah's military chief in a strike on Beirut on Sunday, the Israeli military and the militant group said, hitting an apartment building and killing five people according to Lebanese authorities.

Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of a ceasefire in November 2024 that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two.

(Reuters) -Hezbollah's chief of staff Ali Tabtabai was killed in an Israeli strike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday, multiple Israeli media outlets reported, citing Israeli sources.

(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly and Hatem Maher, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group in the capital Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strike hit a main road in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where residents told Reuters they heard the roar of warplanes before the blast.

People rushed out of their apartment buildings out of fear there would be further strikes, a Reuters reporter in the area said.

At least two dozen were wounded and have been taken to hospitals in the area, medical sources said.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would have a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine, adding that he would also ask him to restart a deal for the safe passage of grains via the Black Sea.

NATO member Turkey has maintained cordial ties with both Kyiv and Moscow during the war, providing military help to Ukraine but refusing to join Western sanctions on Moscow. It has hosted three rounds of peace talks between the warring parties in Istanbul and offered to host a leaders' meeting.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior ministry officials will present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday with the state budget and planned structural reforms for 2026, Smotrich's office said.

"The Finance Minister will present to the Prime Minister the necessary measures to ensure continued economic growth and to combat the high cost of living," it said.

It added that cabinet ministers would vote on the budget on Dec. 4 but it is unlikely the budget would be approved by year end.

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Sunday to meet with Gaza war mediators, an Egyptian security source and a Hamas source said, as both Israel and the Palestinian militant group continue to trade accusations of ceasefire violations.

The Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the delegation would be discussing Israel's "continued violation of the ceasefire agreement".

Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. have been mediating between Hamas and Israel, securing the ceasefire that came into effect last month.