JERUSALEM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's senior envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's military chief, two senior Israeli officials said on Monday.

The officials said Witkoff's visit to the country was expected to begin on Tuesday. It comes amid heightened regional tensions with Iran, and as the Trump administration presses ahead with its plan to end the Gaza war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, local media said, as his counterpart Donald Trump threatened "bad things" if no deal with the Islamic republic was struck.

Following the Iranian authorities' deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, the US president has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

Feb 2 (Reuters) - A convoy of Syrian government security forces moved towards the Kurdish-controlled city of Hasakah in the northeast on Monday, Reuters witnesses said, deploying under a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal that foresees the Kurdish-run regions being merged with Damascus.

The deal, declared on Friday, has staved off further conflict between President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which lost swathes of eastern and northern Syria to government troops in January.

DUBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iranian police have arrested four foreigners over last month's unrest, Iranian state media reported on Monday, without specifying their nationality.

State media quoted Iranian police as saying the four foreigners had been arrested "in a raid inside their hideout". Four homemade sound grenades had been found in one of their bags.

MOSCOW, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was still trying to de-escalate tensions around Iran, and that it had long ago offered its services to process or store Iran's enriched uranium.

Asked if Russia was discussing with Iran and the United States the possibility of taking Iranian enriched uranium, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This topic has been on the agenda for a long time."

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa

CAIRO/GAZA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Cut off from family or urgently requiring hospital care, Palestinians stranded on each side of Gaza's Rafah crossing waited with growing desperation for Monday's reopening of the border as a delayed part of October's ceasefire deal.

How fully crossings to and from Egypt will resume, and under what conditions, remains unclear with Israel retaining complete control of Gaza's frontier, but for those waiting to travel even a partial reopening feels long overdue.

DUBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Details of various diplomatic processes to manage tensions with the U.S. are being examined by Iran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, adding that Tehran hoped for results in the coming days.

Amid a military buildup by the U.S. Navy near Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters last week that Iran was "seriously talking" with Washington, hours after Tehran's top security official Ali Larijani said on X that arrangements for negotiations were underway.

Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war was given a boost on Monday with the reopening of the enclave's Rafah crossing with Egypt. But difficult questions remain unaddressed, including whether Hamas will disarm.

Trump's plan, now in its second phase, has been shaken by repeated Israeli attacks that have killed hundreds in Gaza, as well as resistance by Hamas militants to lay down their weapons. Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to war if Hamas refuses to disarm.

By Haseeb Alwazeer

GAZA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Israel was expected to reopen the border between Gaza and Egypt on Monday for people on foot, a move that would allow Palestinians to leave the enclave and let back in those who want to return after fleeing Israel's war in the enclave.

The reopening of the Rafah border crossing will be limited, with Israel demanding security checks for Palestinians entering and exiting. Israel and Egypt were expected to impose caps on the number of travellers.

Sick and wounded Gazans began crossing into Egypt to seek medical treatment on Monday after Israel permitted a limited reopening of the Palestinian territory's Rafah border post.

Around 150 people were due to leave the territory on Monday, and 50 to enter it, according to Egyptian officials, more than 20 months after Israeli forces fighting in Gaza closed the crossing.