Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday his country would achieve victory after the military said it shot down almost all the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran in a sharp escalation of the Middle East conflict

Iran warned Israel on Sunday of a larger attack on its territory should it retaliate against Tehran's overnight drone and missile attack, adding that US bases would be targeted if Washington backs any Israeli military action against Iran

President Joe Biden said US forces helped Israel shoot down nearly all the drones and missiles fired by Iran Saturday, but appeared to guide the key US ally away from retaliating against Tehran by saying Israel had now shown its strength

Iran had repeatedly threatened to strike Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on its Damascus consular building and Washington had warned repeatedly in recent days that the reprisals were imminent

Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, days after Tehran said it could close the crucial shipping route and warned it would retaliate for an Israeli strike on its Syria consulate

US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel "sooner, rather than later" and warned Tehran not to proceed

A deadly, mass famine in Gaza would likely accelerate violence and ensure a long-term conflict, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told a Senate hearing.

Israel and Hamas both yesterday dampened hopes of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported “significant progress”.

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon early yesterday killed a field commander in the heavily-armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the United Nations warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence.

“It smells like death,” said Maha Thaer, a mother of four, as she returned to the devastated southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis on Sunday, after Israeli troops withdrew.

The first day of Eid will then be celebrated on Wednesday, April 10

Houthi forces in Yemen said yesterday they had launched rockets and drones targeting a British ship and two Israeli vessels that were heading to Israeli ports, and also at a number of US frigates in the Red Sea.

The World Health Organization said that Gaza’s largest hospital had been reduced to ashes by Israel’s latest siege, leaving an “empty shell” with many bodies.

Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, media reports said, in a partial withdrawal six months into the devastating offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

American, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are expected in Cairo over the weekend in a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in a war that reaches the half-year mark today.

Seven children were killed in southern Syria’s Daraa province yesterday when an “explosive device” detonated, state media reported.

Iran yesterday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country’s enemies will “regret” the killings.

Thousands of people chanted against Israel and the United States at yesterday’s funeral for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Syria, which Iran blamed on Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that “scattered measures” for Gaza aid are not enough after Israel told the UN it will allow a “meaningful increase” in aid.

A growing number of children caught up in armed conflicts around the globe are being denied access to critical humanitarian aid, a United Nations official warned Wednesday, as relief operations come under attack or are blocked by governments.