Palestinians living in Gaza "deserve more than survival," the United Nations envoy for the Middle East told the Security Council on Wednesday, as Israel's war there enters its 600th day.

Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza, ignited by an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis after Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from striking Iran as he voiced optimism about nuclear talks his administration is holding with Tehran.

Iran said that it may consider allowing Americans to inspect its facilities as part of the United Nations nuclear watchdog if a deal is reached.

Trump, asked if he had told Netanyahu in a call next week not to take any action that could disrupt the diplomacy, said: "Well, I'd like to be honest, yes I did."

Iran on Wednesday executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, in defiance of pleas from his family and activists for his life to be spared after what they described as an unfair trial.

Pedram Madani, 41, was hanged in Ghezelhesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran after earlier this week being transferred from Evin prison in the capital where he had been held following his arrest in 2019.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi backed week-long nationwide strikes by truckers Wednesday as a "loud call" to the authorities, after arriving home from his triumph at the Cannes film festival.

Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic republic.

Ministers of the OPEC+ oil alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, discussed production on Wednesday as another hike looms despite falling prices.

The 22-nation group began a series of cuts in 2022 to prop up crude prices, but Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other members surprised markets recently by sharply raising output for May and June.

The move has put pressure on prices, which have also fallen as investors worry that US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught will cause an economic slump and weigh on demand.

With reports of acute suffering in Gaza flooding the airwaves, EU leaders have toughened their tone on Israel -- but the bloc will need to bridge deep divisions to move from rhetoric to a real-world impact on the conflict.

The shift has been most noticeable from key power Germany, one of Israel's staunchest allies in the world, its loyalty rooted in the trauma of the Holocaust.

Israeli air strikes blew up the last remaining plane at rebel-held Yemen's international airport, Israel and a Yemeni official said on Wednesday, weeks after an earlier attack inflicted major damage.

An air raid involving multiple strikes hit the Yemenia Airways plane and the runway at Sanaa airport, the Huthi rebels' Al-Masirah TV channel posted on X, decrying "Israeli aggression".

Thick black smoke was seen billowing from a stricken plane on the tarmac, in a video posted on X by Sanaa airport director Khaled al-Shaief who said it was Yemenia's last operational aircraft.

French activists dyed a Paris fountain red Wednesday to symbolise what they called the "bloodbath" of Palestinians in Gaza.

Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital, while others held placards saying "Cease fire" and "Gaza: stop the bloodbath".

"This operation aims to denounce France's slow response to an absolute humanitarian emergency facing the people of Gaza today," the activists, which included the French branch of Greenpeace, said in a joint statement.

Israel said Wednesday its military killed Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas's presumed Gaza leader and the brother of Yahya, slain mastermind of the October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.

On the war's 600th day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel's Gaza offensive, saying it had killed tens of thousands of militants including Mohammed Sinwar -- nicknamed "the shadow".

Israeli media said Sinwar was targeted by strikes in southern Gaza earlier this month. His brother was killed in October 2024.

Nearly 380 writers from the UK and Ireland, including Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, penned an open letter Wednesday denouncing what they called Israel's "genocide" in Gaza and urging a ceasefire.

The letter called on "our nations and the peoples of the world to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror," they wrote in a letter published on the Medium website.