By Elwely Elwelly

DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Several people were killed during unrest in Iran on Thursday, an Iranian news agency and a rights group reported, as the biggest protests to hit the country for three years over soaring inflation sparked violence in several provinces.

The semi-official Fars news agency cited a "source with knowledge" as saying several people were killed in clashes on Thursday morning between police and what it said were armed protesters in Lordegan in western Iran.

Separatists from Yemen's Southern Transitional Council said on Thursday that Saudi-aligned government forces would enter territories seized by the UAE-backed group, in a step that appeared unlikely to satisfy Riyadh after it repeatedly demanded their full withdrawal.

A surprise offensive by the STC, in which the separatists took control of resource-rich Hadramawt and Mahra provinces last month, has brought the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, officially allies in Yemen, to a point of unprecedented tension.

Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Israel on Thursday said 37 humanitarian agencies supplying aid in Gaza had not met a deadline to meet "security and transparency standards", and would be banned from the territory, despite an international outcry.

The international NGOs, which had been ordered to disclose detailed information on their Palestinian staff, will now be required to cease operations by March 1.

The United Nations has warned that this will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a glittering New Year's Eve party at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, according to social media.

Netanyahu, who arrived at the US president's Palm Beach residence on Monday, was spotted alongside tuxedo-clad Trump Wednesday night in a social media post from conservative influencer Michael Solakiewicz.

Trump had joked that the Israeli leader could attend the party during meetings Monday to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire and other regional geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.

By Jasper Ward

Dec 31 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a move by Israel to ban electricity or water to facilities owned by the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, a U.N. spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the move would "further impede" the agency's ability to operate and carry out activities.

Dec 31 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday that recent developments in the Yemeni provinces of Hadramout and Al Mahra threaten to bring new risks to the Gulf region.

"The EU calls for de-escalation and avoiding steps that further threaten stability of Yemen and the region," an EU spokesperson said in a statement.

"The EU reiterates its strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen, as well as its support for the Presidential Leadership Council and the Government of Yemen," the spokesperson added.

The United States has granted a temporary licence to NIS, a majority-Russian owned Serbian oil company caught up in US sanctions against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a Serbian minister said on Wednesday.

Washington's sanctions on the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), part of its crackdown on Russia's energy sector, forced Serbia's sole oil refinery, which supplies around 80 percent of the Serbian market, to shut down in early December.

By Yousef Saba

DUBAI, Dec 31 - The United Arab Emirates has pursued an assertive foreign policy and carved its own sphere of influence across the Middle East and Africa, a strategy in the spotlight after a rare military escalation with Saudi Arabia in Yemen this week.

Abu Dhabi has used alliances with states or proxies, military intervention and financial support mainly to counter what it views as the destabilising threat of political Islam, specifically from groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

DUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Oman's foreign minister met his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss finding a political solution to the crisis in Yemen, Oman's Foreign Ministry said.

The meeting came a day after a Saudi-led strike on Yemen's southern port of Mukalla, which raised tensions between Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates.

In recent weeks, a Saudi-led coalition has clashed with UAE-backed southern separatists in Yemen. The UAE has said it is ending its remaining military mission there, highlighting a widening rift between the Gulf allies.