OTTAWA, May 20 (Reuters) - Israel's treatment of detained Gaza flotilla activists is "abominable," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, using unusually harsh language to condemn a close ally.

Ottawa earlier said it would summon the Israeli ambassador to protest after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shared a video in which he taunted the activists, who were forced to kneel on the ground in rows with their hands tied behind their backs.

CAIRO, May 20 (Reuters) - Iran is seeking to establish a mechanism with Oman to ensure sustainable security in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV on Wednesday.

He said Iran was ready to develop protocols for safe shipping traffic in cooperation with other coastal states, without providing further details.

JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) - Israel moved closer on Wednesday to a snap election after lawmakers gave an initial nod to dissolve parliament, with opinion polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose the first national vote since the 2023 Hamas attacks.

Lawmakers voted almost unanimously for an early ballot in a preliminary reading of a bill to disband the 120-seat Knesset. If it receives final approval, a process that could take weeks, Israel could hold an election several weeks ahead of an October 27 deadline.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Oil down, stocks up -

Oil prices fell five percent and stock markets advanced as Iran said it had allowed around two dozen ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about the apparent impasse on ending the war in the Middle East.

Yields on US Treasury bonds tumbled Wednesday after President Donald Trump said American negotiators were close to a potential peace accord with Iran.

- Iraq told to prevent attacks -

By Tom Polansek and Julie Ingwersen

TULIA, Texas, May 20 (Reuters) - Scott Irlbeck crouched in a field of stunted wheat plants in a parched stretch of West Texas and slipped his hand into a crack wide enough to swallow it.

Last autumn, Irlbeck planted a crop that barely grew because rain never came. He now hopes his insurance adjuster will declare it a total loss so he will not need to spend money on pricey fuel to harvest it next month.

Hamas is "the principal obstacle" to moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, the Board of Peace initiative created by US President Donald Trump said in its first report to the UN Security Council.

In its findings, the group, established by Trump in January to oversee the end of fighting in Gaza and its reconstruction following the deadly Israel-Hamas war, criticized repeated ceasefire violations.

Iran has jailed a former goalkeeper for the national men's football team after he published earlier this year a post deeply critical of then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei, his wife said.

The Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary confirmed that Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri was under arrest but said he had been detained after seeking to illegally cross the border.

Israel's far-right national security minister posted a video on Wednesday showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground, sparking international condemnation.

The video, shared on X by firebrand minister Itamar Ben Gvir, was published after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla's vessels at sea and began detaining hundreds of foreign activists at the southern port of Ashdod.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Haseeb Alwazeer

GAZA/CAIRO, May 20 (Reuters) - In a tent in southern Gaza, Najia Abu Lehia mourns not only her husband but also their failure to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, together before he died a year ago because of war and border closures.

Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is Islam’s holiest city, and the Hajj is one of its Five Pillars, a mandatory duty for Muslims who are physically and financially able to undertake it at least once in their lifetime.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Pakistan minister in Tehran -

War mediator Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi headed to Iran for the second time this week amid an impasse between Tehran and Washington over a proposal to end the conflict, Iranian state media reported, citing diplomatic sources in Islamabad.

Naqvi had been in Tehran on Saturday to "facilitate" the process between Tehran and Washington, according to Iranian media.

- Jordan shoots drone -