BEIJING (Reuters) -China's defence minister Dong Jun held a video call with his U.S. counterpart Pete Hegseth on Tuesday at the latter's request, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Dong urged the U.S. defence secretary to maintain communication and an open attitude, and foster stable and positive military ties based on "equal respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutual respect", according to Xinhua.

DUBAI (Reuters) -A new agreement between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog does not guarantee inspectors' access to Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran wants further talks on how inspections are carried out, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached a deal on Tuesday on resuming inspections at sites including those bombed by the U.S. and Israel but gave no specifics, and Tehran said the deal was off if international sanctions were re-imposed.

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on Wednesday that growing international momentum to recognize a Palestinian state directly led to the collapse of U.S. efforts to persuade Israel to release much-needed funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Huckabee said he had been "shuttling back and forth" between the two sides, partly out of concern that worsening economic instability in the West Bank could spark violence, but that momentum towards recognition had hardened Israeli positions.

BERLIN (Reuters) -Human rights lawyers filed a lawsuit against an Israeli soldier of German origin over suspected involvement in the targeted killing of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and three Palestinian human rights organisations said they filed a criminal complaint with Germany's federal prosecutor against a sniper in the Israeli Defense Forces.

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza said they were fearful for the fate of their loved ones after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch strikes on the Hamas leadership in Qatar, just as a new ceasefire push was underway.

Qatar has been hosting leaders of the Palestinian militant group which is still holding 48 hostages in Gaza, and is one of the mediators, along with the United States, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives' release.

DOHA (Reuters) -United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Qatar on Wednesday, UAE state news agency WAM reported, in a show of solidarity a day after Israel launched an airstrike targeting Hamas officials in Doha.

Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein is also expected to visit Qatar on Wednesday, while Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to arrive in Doha on Thursday, an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov arrived in Israel on Monday, a day after she was released more than two years after her kidnapping in Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the release of Tsurkov, who had been held hostage since March 2023.

"Elizabeth Tsurkov, who had been held hostage in Iraq and was released last night, has landed in Israel," said a joint statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the Mossad intelligence service.

By Maayan Lubell, Alexander Cornwell and Andrew Mills

JERUSALEM/DOHA (Reuters) -If Israel did not kill Hamas leaders in an air strike on Qatar on Tuesday it would succeed next time, the Israeli ambassador to the United States said after the operation, which raised concerns it would torpedo efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They'll get over it. And Israel is being changed for the better," Yechiel Leiter told Fox News' "Special Report" programme late on Tuesday.

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) -A German court found Syrian citizen Issa Al Hasan guilty of an Islamic State-inspired 2024 stabbing attack on a festival in the western city of Solingen in which three people were killed and 10 others injured, sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The attack upended the election campaign heading up to this year's national election, boosting the far-right Alternative for Germany and contributing to now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz's decision to double down on migration controls as a focus of his campaign.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission will propose sanctioning extremist Israeli ministers and a partial suspension of the European Union's association agreement with Israel, targeting trade-related matters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

"What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world," von der Leyen said in a State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, acknowledging divisions within Europe on how to move forward and pledging that the commission will do what it can on its own.