By Jun Yuan Yong

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore said on Monday it will impose targeted sanctions on leaders of Israeli settler groups and would recognise a Palestine state under the right conditions.

Western and other nations have been taking an increasingly hard line against settler groups and some Israeli officials they accuse of fomenting violence, while global recognition is growing of Palestinians' aspiration for an independent homeland.

(Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned high-profile Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after a lengthy imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes that prompted international pleas for his release, Al Qahera news said on Monday.

Abd el-Fattah, 43, became Egypt's most prominent political prisoner after spending much of his adult life in and out of detention due to his activism, and a rare symbol of opposition to a far-reaching crackdown under Sisi.

Rubble and Hebrew graffiti mark Israel's presence in Syria's Quneitra province, where people accuse the southern neighbour's troops of demolitions, detentions and forced displacement -- defying ongoing security talks between the two sides.

"Israeli forces entered under cover of darkness and demolished my house, along with 15 others, with a bulldozer," said Mohammed al-Ali.

"They turned them into rubble within a few hours," said the 50-year-old from the southern town of Hamidiya.

Tens of thousands of people protested on Monday across Italy as part of a day of action to "denounce the genocide in Gaza", with blockades, strikes and marches that descended into clashes with police in Milan.

The demonstrations came on the same day as France and other countries prepared to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following recognition by the UK, Australia and Canada on Sunday.

Italy's hard-right government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said it will not recognise a Palestinian state for now.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia still believes that a two-state solution is the only way to settle the conflict in the Middle East, the Kremlin said on Monday, after it was asked about a decision by some Western countries to recognise a Palestinian state.

Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, prompting a furious response from Israel.

ROME (Reuters) -Striking dockworkers blocked access roads to the port of Genoa in northern Italy on Monday, as part of protests against Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Transport services also faced disruption and a number of schools across Italy were closed following strikes called by a group of unions in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

In Genoa, in northwest Italy, some protesters waved the Palestinian flag during early morning gatherings around the port. Further down the coast in the Tuscan city of Livorno, an entrance to the port was blocked by protesting workers.

VALLETTA (Reuters) -Malta will announce its formal recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday, the Prime Minister's Office said, joining a group of countries in making the move.

Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday, a move intended to promote a two-state solution to end the war in Gaza. France and several other states are expected to make the same decision on Monday.

Almost two dozen town halls in France were on Monday flying the Palestinian flag from their entrances in defiance of an interior ministry warning not to do so ahead of the recognition of a Palestinian state by President Emmanuel Macron.

The president is due to recognise a Palestinian state in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, following up on a pledge he made in the summer that angered Israel.

(Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Monday it had reinforced all combat fronts with air, land and naval forces across the country during the Jewish New Year holiday.

Earlier this year, Israeli media reported that the military had ended its long-standing practice of granting unit-wide leave during holidays.

The decision followed a military investigation that found Hamas took advantage of the reduced troop presence along the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, during a Jewish holiday, to launch its attack, according to media reports.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Mohammad Eslami, has arrived in Moscow for talks, Russia's state-run RIA news agency quoted the Iranian embassy as saying on Monday.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council earlier opted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran, after three European countries launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose them, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.