Standing before their devastated building in central Beirut, childhood neighbours Wael Sabbagh and Ghida Krisht vow to fight for justice after an Israeli strike killed their family members.

On April 8, hours after a ceasefire was announced between the United States and Iran, Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes across Lebanon including the heart of the capital, killing more than 350 people.

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) - Israel's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to dissolve itself, potentially bringing forward by a few weeks the next national election, which surveys predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lose.

WHEN IS THE BALLOT?

An election date is yet to be set. Israel is supposed to hold a national vote every four years but early elections have happened often. The last national election was in November 2022 and the next ballot is due at the latest on October 27.

ANKARA, May 20 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Wednesday that Germany would send it a Patriot missile defence system for a six-month deployment from June to replace a system deployed as part of NATO measures in southeast Turkey to bolster air defences amid the war in Iran.

In March, Ankara said a U.S. Patriot system was deployed to southeast Turkey, near a NATO radar base, in the face of missile threats from Iran. NATO defences shot down four ballistic missiles launched from Iran during the war.

ANKARA, May 20 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will tell NATO foreign ministers this week that the next NATO leaders' summit, set for Ankara in July, should reaffirm the alliance's unity and integrity, a foreign ministry source said on Wednesday.

• Fidan will attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Thursday and Friday in Sweden's Helsingborg.

• Turkey will host the next NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on July 7-8.

Iran said on Wednesday it was examining a new US proposal to end the Middle East war, as President Donald Trump described the talks as being on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.

Trump, who said earlier that negotiations were in their "final stages," later warned that the window for diplomacy could close quickly.

"It's right on the borderline, believe me," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington. "If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go."

By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation into a strike at a girls' school in Iran has been "complex" given that it was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base but the probe is approaching its conclusion, a U.S. military commander said on Tuesday.

Reuters first reported that an initial, internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.

SEOUL, May 20 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday said Israel had arrested South Korean nationals in international waters, calling the action “way out of line”.

In a cabinet meeting, Lee said the South Korean citizens had been detained for reasons not valid under international law, questioning whether such actions could be allowed to pass without protest.

Youssef Shtayyeh came home from school on an April afternoon, dropped his bag in the hallway and headed straight back out to join his friends.

Minutes later, he was dead -- shot by an Israeli soldier, just 100 metres (yards) from his home.

He was 15. His is not an isolated case.

Since Israel launched a major military operation against armed Palestinian groups in the northern West Bank in January 2025, one Palestinian minor has been killed every week on average across the territory, up from one every three weeks in 2021, according to UNICEF.

The Iranian football federation vice-president said Tuesday he was "very confident" in FIFA's protocols as the team prepare to play at the World Cup in the United States.

Iran's national team arrived in Turkey for a pre-tournament training camp on Monday.

The players are to stay several weeks before heading to the World Cup that is being co-hosted by the US, which began bombing Iran on February 28 alongside Israel, sparking a wider war in the Middle East.

European aviation giant Airbus has asked its teams to cut "non-essential expenses" by 10 percent due to turbulence following the Middle East war, according to a document seen by AFP.

"We are asking for your support in adopting several cost containment measures to help our company navigate this unstable situation," it said.

"Our specific focus is on significantly pausing all activities and costs that are not strictly essential to our industrial activities and operations ... We aim to reduce these costs by -10% compared to the 2025 baseline."