By Alexander Cornwell

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -The Israeli military intercepted the last boat in an aid flotilla attempting to reach blockaded Gaza on Friday, a day after stopping most of the vessels and detaining some 450 activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said the Marinette was intercepted some 42.5 nautical miles (79 km) from Gaza. Israeli army radio said the navy had taken control of the last ship in the flotilla, detained those aboard and that the vessel was being led to Ashdod port in Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Italy on Friday during a large-scale strike over the treatment of the Gaza aid flotilla and far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cautious stance on the conflict.

Demonstrators condemned Rome's criticism of the Global Sumud Flotilla that sailed to challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations has reported famine conditions after nearly two years of war.

ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday that Turkey welcomed efforts to reach peace in the region, but that Israel must stop its attacks for efforts to be successful, the Turkish presidency said.

Erdogan and Trump met at the White House last month for the first time in six years, for a meeting that the Turkish leader said helped the NATO allies make "meaningful progress" on a range of issues.

US President Donald Trump on Friday issued an ultimatum to Hamas of 2200 GMT Sunday to accept his Gaza peace deal or face "all hell."

The Palestinian militants have until "Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

"If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas."

In the post, Trump said "innocent Palestinians" should evacuate an unspecified area in anticipation of a potential assault on Hamas's remaining forces.

Years of criticism of an EU-backed migration pact between Italy and Libya are coming to a head as migrant rescuers say the Libyan coastguard has begun firing directly at them.

"Hundreds of bullets were fired during 20 terrifying minutes" in an attack "deliberately targeting crew members on the bridge... at head height", said SOS Mediterranee, the charity running the Ocean Viking ship, in August.

Last week, German charity Sea-Watch said its rescue ship was also shot at by the Libyan coastguard using live ammunition.

By Sakshi Dayal

NEW DELHI/KABUL (Reuters) -The U.N. Security Council Committee has temporarily lifted a travel ban on the Afghan Taliban foreign minister, which would allow him to visit India between October 9 and 16, India's foreign ministry said on Friday.

If confirmed, it would be the first visit to India by a senior leader of the Taliban-run Afghan administration since it seized power in 2021 after 20 years of U.S. military presence.

Delhi and Kabul have traditionally enjoyed close ties when the Islamist Taliban were not in power.

By Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an aid flotilla carrying food to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel this week.

"After what I saw with the flotilla, I thought I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. It's the first time I go to these kind of demonstrations," Mario Mascetti, a protester in Rome, told Reuters.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -A Tunisian man has been sentenced to death on charges of insulting the president and assaulting state security through posts on social media, the head of the Tunisian League for Human Rights and his lawyer said on Friday.

The ruling is unprecedented in Tunisia, where restrictions on free speech have been tightened since President Kais Saied seized almost all powers in 2021.

Syrian-American Jew Henry Hamra is running for a seat this Sunday in Syria's first legislature since the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

If chosen in the indirect polls, Hamra, whose father was reportedly the last rabbi to leave Syria, would be the first Jewish representative to enter parliament since the 1940s.

In the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Damascus on Friday, an AFP photographer saw posters on walls bearing Hamra's image alongside the Syrian flag and reading: "Candidate for Damascus for the Syrian People's Assembly".

By Catarina Demony and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's government and police have called for a pro-Palestinian protest in London on Saturday to be cancelled following a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester that has shone a light on rising religious hatred.

Thursday's attack follows a politically charged summer where incidents of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate have remained high, and pro-Palestinian marchers have routinely taken to the streets to denounce Israel, drawing criticism from some members of the Jewish community.