LONDON (Reuters) -Syria hopes that U.S. sanctions against the country will be formally lifted in the coming months, the country's Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar told Reuters on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered most sanctions lifted on the country in May after meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, but the Caesar Syria Civil Protection Act of 2019 authorising them remains U.S. law.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met the head of Egyptian intelligence in Jerusalem on Tuesday, the prime minister's office said.

During the meeting, it said, they discussed advancing U.S. President Donald Trump's plan, Israel–Egypt relations and strengthening the peace between the two countries.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Alex Richardson)

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli said the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state should hold a parliamentary vote to join Turkey, two days after Turkish Cypriots elected a candidate in favour of restarting talks with Greek Cypriots.

Bahceli, a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan whose remarks have at times foreshadowed government policy, on Tuesday dismissed calls for a federal solution on the ethnically split island and said "Cyprus is Turkish and the homeland of Turks".

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. World Food Programme said on Tuesday that supplies into Gaza were ramping up after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire but were still far short of its daily target of 2,000 tons because only two crossings are open, and none to the famine-hit north of the enclave.

Around 750 metric tons of food are now entering the Gaza Strip daily, according to the WFP, but this was still well below the scale of needs after two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas that has reduced much of Gaza to a wasteland and made nearly its entire population homeless.

US Vice President JD Vance expressed "great optimism" that the Gaza truce would hold, ahead of a meeting Wednesday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Vance is in Israel to shore up support for the US-brokered ceasefire and post-war reconstruction plans.

Despite concerns in Israel that Hamas has seized on the pause to reassert itself in Gaza, Vance said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered deal.

By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance will arrive in Israel on Tuesday, as Washington tries to stabilise the first, shaky, phase of the Gaza ceasefire and push Israel and Hamas towards the harder concessions asked of each side in coming talks.

The two sides have accused each other of repeated breaches of the ceasefire since it was formally agreed eight days ago, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning hostage bodies, bringing in aid and opening borders.

By Samia Nakhoul, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay

ANKARA/DUBAI (Reuters) -Turkey’s ties to Hamas, once a liability in Washington, have turned into a geopolitical asset. By persuading Hamas to accept Donald Trump’s Gaza deal, Ankara has reasserted itself on the Middle East chessboard, to the dismay of Israel and Arab rivals.

Initially resistant to the U.S. president's ultimatum -- free the Israeli hostages or face continued devastation -- Hamas leaders relented only when Turkey, a country they view as a political patron, urged them to agree to the American plan.

US President Donald Trump threatened to "eradicate" Hamas if it breached its ceasefire deal with Israel, as Vice President JD Vance travelled to the region Tuesday to bolster the fragile Gaza truce.

The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to cement the fragile Gaza peace agreement it helped to broker, after Israel accused Hamas of stalling the hand-over of hostages' bodies and deadly violence flared up in the territory over the weekend.

By Ann Wang

IROSIN, Philippines/NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -Marian Duhapa kisses her quietly sleeping baby daughter Quinn goodbye as she prepares for the 16-hour bus trip from her remote village in the Philippines to Manila airport before flying back to Taiwan and work.

"I pray for myself, the baby and my family. I pray I can find a job so I can help my daughter and my family. This is my only choice now," said Duhapa.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will decline any tickets offered to their fans for a Europa League away match at Aston Villa, the Israeli club announced Monday.

The local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) covering Villa Park in Birmingham, in central England, last week blocked visiting fans from attending the November 6 match following a police risk assessment.

That decision drew widespread political criticism, including from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with widespread calls for the ruling to be reversed.