At its premiere, a powerful new Gaza film at the Venice Film Festival sparked 23 minutes of sustained applause. But the next day hate emails flooded in, the director said Friday.

"The Voice of Hind Rajab" from French-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania is a strong contender for the festival's Golden Lion to be awarded Saturday.

It has already garnered the support of famous Hollywood names attached as executive producers.

(Reuters) - Lebanon's cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.

A national divide over Hezbollah's disarmament has taken centre stage in Lebanon since last year's devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Three Palestinian human rights groups that had U.S. sanctions imposed on them for asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel over allegations of atrocity crimes in Gaza plan to continue their cooperation with the war crimes tribunal.

The groups are the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and Al-Haq, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The sanctions were posted on the U.S. Treasury Department's website on Thursday and include blocking any provisions of funds, goods or services to them.

The Israel-Premier Tech team insists it will ride on in the Vuelta a Espana, even though repeated roadside pro-Palestinian protests forced one stage to be curtailed and several of its riders say they are scared.

The third most important race in the international calendar started in Italy on August 23 and once it entered Spain four days later, demonstrators began lining roads waving red, green, black and white Palestinian flags.

Protestors have run into the road, some have attempted to lie in the path of the peloton. At times riders have had to swerve or stop.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told AFP Friday that the EU's credibility on foreign policy was "collapsing" due to the bloc's failure to act over Israel's war in Gaza.

"It is undeniable, we are not going to bury our heads in the sand, that the European Union at this stage is not living up to its responsibilities in this enormous humanitarian crisis," Prevot said in an interview at his office in Brussels.

The Israeli military destroyed a high-rise in Gaza City on Friday, shortly after announcing it would target tall buildings identified as being used by Hamas ahead of its planned seizure of the Palestinian territory's biggest city.

Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to halt its nearly two-year offensive in Gaza, Israel has been calling up reservists, intensifying its bombardments and closing in on Gaza City.

NICOSIA (Reuters) -Egypt said on Friday it would not tolerate mass displacement of Palestinians and what it described as genocide, continuing to ratchet up its criticism of Israel's Gaza offensive as thousands of residents of Gaza City defied Israeli orders to leave.

"Displacement is not an option and it is a red line for Egypt and we will not allow it to happen," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters in Nicosia.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Hamas released a video on Friday of two Israeli hostages seized from a music festival in Israel in October 2023, and one said he was being held in Gaza City, where the Israeli military has launched a major offensive to wipe out the militant group.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel are two of 48 people still being held by Hamas in Gaza, with 20 thought to be still alive.

The United States has imposed sanctions on three leading Palestinian NGOs, accusing them of supporting International Criminal Court efforts to prosecute Israeli nationals.

The move is the latest in Washington's effort to hobble the ICC, which has sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The court has also pursued cases against Hamas leaders.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Finland is joining the French-Saudi New York declaration on a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question and implementation of a two-state solution, the Nordic country said on Friday.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)