A source close to the Saudi government told AFP that Arab leaders would discuss 'a reconstruction plan to counter Trump's plan for Gaza'

Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday evening by Israeli forces in the al-Faraa camp near Tubas in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported.

Iran executed at least 975 people last year in a “horrifying escalation” of its use of capital punishment, two human rights groups said yesterday.

Iranian authorities said yesterday that a British couple arrested last month in the country’s southeast had been charged with espionage and accused of links to Western intelligence services.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz yesterday confirmed that troops remain at five positions in southern Lebanon past a pullout deadline, vowing action against any truce violation by militant group Hezbollah.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dismissed on Monday President Donald Trump’s proposal to seize Gaza and force out the Palestinians, while Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said he expects Arab states to put forward a workable alternative.

Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier in the day from Israel where he began his first visit to the region as the top US diplomat

Israel and the United States have a common approach to Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday, praising President Donald Trump’s “bold vision” for the territory after talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Palestinian militants released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian inmates freed by Israel, completing the latest swap despite fears the Gaza truce deal was near collapse.

Gaza fighters handed three Israeli hostages over to the Red Cross on Saturday

Saudi Arabia will host the leaders of four Arab countries at a summit on February 20 to discuss Donald Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza, a source with knowledge of the preparations said Friday.

Hamas said yesterday it was committed to honouring a truce with Israel that is facing its worst crisis since it took effect, and added that mediators were pushing for hostages to be released this weekend as planned.

Israel’s military has called up reservists in preparation for a possible resumption of fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to release more Israeli hostages and a nearly month-old ceasefire breaks down.

A Hamas official said yesterday Israeli hostages can be brought home from Gaza only if a fragile ceasefire is respected, dismissing the “language of threats” after US President Donald Trump said he would “let hell break out” if they were not freed.

President Donald Trump said Palestinians would have no right to return to Gaza under his US takeover plan, describing his proposal in excerpts of an interview released yesterday as a “real estate development for the future.”

A Hamas official said Israeli troops completed their withdrawal yesterday from a strategic road cutting through the Gaza Strip, part of a fragile truce deal that Israel said it was implementing.

Israel and Hamas completed their fifth hostage-prisoner swap under a fragile Gaza ceasefire deal yesterday, with the frail, disoriented appearance of the three freed Israelis sparking dismay among their relatives.

US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza will imperil attempts to forge landmark ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel and fuel anti-American sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom, analysts said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Saudi Arabia had enough land to provide the Palestinians with a state.

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday that there should not be negotiations with the United States, days after US President Donald Trump called for a new nuclear deal.