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Israeli strikes killed at least 21 people in Gaza on Sunday, including six children, Palestinian health authorities said, ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to try to push forward ceasefire talks. The children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the central town of Deir Al-Balah, health officials said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The Israeli military said it destroyed rocket launchers used to hit Israel from the southern city of Khan Younis, the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks, and killed 20 Palestinian fighters.

Narendra Modi on Friday urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu «to de-escalate the situation» in West Asia when the latter dialled him to wish him on India's 78th Independence Day. «Appreciate PM @netanyahu's phone call and warm wishes on India's 78th Independence Day. We discussed the current situation in West Asia. Emphasized on the need to de-escalate the situation. Reiterated our call for immediate release of all hostages, ceasefire and need for continued humanitarian assistance,» Modi said on X. A statement from the Israeli PMO reads: «On behalf of the State of Israel, I extend heartfelt congratulations to Narendra Modi and the people of India on your 78th Independence Day! May our close relations flourish and bring prosperity to both our nations». The phone call comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel following killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity in West Asia this week. France, Germany and the United Kingdom urged Iran and its allies to «refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree (to) a ceasefire and the release of hostages.»

assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials said. Iran has vowed a severe response to Haniyeh's killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement. The U.S. Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli defenses. One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding.

The drills, which started on Friday, are ongoing in the western province of Kermanshah close to the border with Iraq to «enhance combat readiness and vigilance,» an armed forces official told IRNA. The drills are taking place as Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's on July 31 in Tehran.

Iran is undertaking research activities that have put it in a better position to launch a nuclear-weapons program, though it has yet to do so, according to a new assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies. The shift in Washington’s view of Iran’s nuclear efforts comes at a critical time, with Iran having produced enough highly-enriched nuclear fuel for a few nuclear weapons.

PSU stocks, and other export-oriented industries. They attribute potential declines to stretched valuations, a looming economic crisis in the US, reverse yen carry trades, and geopolitical flare-ups. In the past week, global markets have experienced a significant sell-off due to disappointing economic data from the US, the Bank of Japan's unexpected 25 bps rate hike, and the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry says it's ordered Egyptian airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours on Thursday after a notice from Tehran to do so because of military exercises

Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, the group said on Tuesday, in a move that reinforces the radical path pursued since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Sinwar, the architect of the most devastating attack on Israel in decades, has been in hiding in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war. «The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of Commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement, succeeding the martyr Commander Ismail Haniyeh, may Allah have mercy on him,» the movement said in a brief statement.

U.S. personnel were injured in an attack against a military base in Iraq on Monday, U.S. officials told Reuters, as the Middle East braced for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies following last week's killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Two Katyusha rockets were fired at al Asad airbase in western Iraq, two Iraqi security sources said. One Iraqi security source said the rockets fell inside the base. It was unclear whether the attack was linked to threats by Iran to retaliate over the killings. On Wednesday, Iran said the U.S. bears responsibility in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran because of its support for Israel.

Jordan's foreign minister is expected in Iran on Sunday, as the United States and its Arab allies try to prevent a wider war after the back-to-back killings of top Iran-allied militants sparked vows of revenge against Israel. Ayman Safadi would be the first senior Jordanian official to pay an official visit to Iran in over 20 years. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran toward Israel in April. Iran said it was retaliating for the killing of its generals in an Israeli strike in Syria. Many fear Iran and its regional allies could launch a similar attack following the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in an Israeli strike on Beirut last week and of Hamas' top political leader in an explosion in Tehran a day later. Both attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which has acknowledged killing the Hezbollah commander. Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have vowed to avenge the killings.

Global equities turned lower on Thursday amid weak US manufacturing data, which raised doubts about the US economy and countered optimism about potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Middle East simmers with tension and stares at the possible Israel-Iran war, the United States announced plans to bolster its military presence in the region. Now the question is — Will it be 'Abraham Alliance' vs 'Axis of resistance' battle? Three US and Israeli officials told Axios that they expect Iran to launch an attack on Israel as early as Monday. This move comes in response to threats of retaliation from Iran and its regional allies following the killings of a Hamas leader in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut, heightening fears of a broader conflict.

US Central Command's General Michael Kurilla arrived in the region on Saturday amid preparations for a possible attack by Iran on Israel in response to the recent killings of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, US-based news website Axios reported, citing two US officials. General Kurilla's visit, which was planned before the recent escalation between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah following the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is now seen as a strategic move. He is expected to mobilise the international and regional coalition that previously defended Israel against an attack from Iran on April 13, Axios reported, citing a US official. Three US and Israeli officials said that they expect Iran to launch an attack on Israel as early as Monday. Iranian and Hezbollah leaders have pledged to retaliate for the killings of Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas's political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war. Israel ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights. The killing this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah's military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called «axis of

West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel's army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation. Cease-fire discussions on Gaza continued, with an Israel delegation led by the Mossad chief briefly visiting Cairo, an Egyptian official said. The U.S. has urged Israel to seize the chance for a cease-fire after the shock killing of Hamas' political leader in Iran, which Tehran blames on Israel. That killing and Israel's assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon have the region holding its breath for retaliation against Israel on either front, or both, after Iran and its proxies vowed to act. Hamas said its command had begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Palestinian militant group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh was slain in Tehran by a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kg, and vowed severe revenge. Wednesday's assassination has drawn fears of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.

Iran held funeral processions on Thursday with calls for revenge after the killing in Tehran of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike blamed on Israel.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut within hours of each other on Tuesday-Wednesday, Israel has successfully conducted what it had purportedly set out to do: take out what lay at the core of the Hamas October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that led to more than 1,000 deaths and over 250 people taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group. In the process, Tel Aviv has pushed the region further to wider conflict. Predictably, Iran has vowed vengeance. It is now the job of Israel's allies, especially the US, to ensure that Tel Aviv doesn't go for an over-overkill. Further escalation must be nipped in the bud.

Hamas on Wednesday announced that its leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, with Itan's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also putting out a statement attesting to the same. Iranian state TV reported on Haniyeh's death in the early hours of the day.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave Sunday his official endorsement of Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic republic's ninth president, following snap elections won by the reformist camp's candidate.

Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran's runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country's mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic. Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran's Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian's modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.