Tehran has sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon.

President Prabowo Subianto’s initiative to evacuate vulnerable persons from war-torn Gaza and transport them to Indonesia has continued to draw criticism following his return from a five-country Middle Eastern tour, even as his administration hinted this week that the President might go ahead with the plan.

During his latest Middle-Eastern tour, analysts saw President Prabowo Subianto as too focused on his domestic agenda, rather than the latest geopolitical and geo-economic issues, such as the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China, as well as Trump’s trade tariffs.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is calling on President Prabowo Subianto to reassess his plan to evacuate 1,000 Gaza residents to Indonesia for temporary recovery.

President Prabowo Subianto received a warm "homecoming" welcome in Jordan on Sunday, following a stopover in Qatar where he claimed to have secured a US$2 billion investment commitment for the country’s new sovereign wealth fund, Danantara. 

President Prabowo Subianto has called out Western powers for their silence and inaction regarding the situation in Gaza, as Middle Eastern counties put up a united front to resist any plans to remove Palestinians from their homeland.

The President emphasized that diplomacy was still the "best option" for keeping the world on track in upholding a rules-based order and highlighted his commitment to democratic principles, while warning about the double standards of certain countries with regard to championing human rights.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have become internally displaced by the war, with many making daily trips on foot to fill plastic containers with water from the few wells still functioning in remoter areas, and even these do not guarantee clean supplies.

Speaking before Turkish lawmakers in Ankara on Thursday, President Prabowo Subianto reaffirmed Indonesia’s solidarity with Turkey on the issue of Palestine, calling for both nations to adopt a “firm” stance and position themselves as a constructive and “important force” within the Islamic world and the Global South. 

Indonesia’s top diplomat on Thursday played down concerns that President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to evacuate 1,000 injured Palestinians from Gaza was a permanent relocation, as the President flew off to meet key regional players amid the latest escalation of the Middle East conflict.

Before departing for Abu Dhabi as part of his Middle East tour, President Prabowo Subianto said that Indonesia is ready to temporarily evacuate a total of 1,000 injured Palestinians and orphaned children.

Prabowo said he has instructed his foreign minister to quickly discuss with the Palestinian side and other parties about how to evacuate impacted Palestinians to Indonesia.

Low-cost airlines have opened routes linking Madrid and Paris to Dakhla in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony largely controlled by Morocco but claimed for decades by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military would bolster its presence inside Gaza to fight militants and "destroy [...] terrorist infrastructure", with unspecified "large areas" to be "incorporated into Israeli security zones".

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of a military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, saying the army would seize "large areas" of the Palestinian territory.

The IFRC said it was the single most deadly attack on its colleagues anywhere in the world since 2017.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday announced a new transitional government dominated by close allies and including one woman, replacing caretaker authorities in place since the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian militant group's chief said on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf Arab states are to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday from Sunday but other Middle Eastern countries will not do so until Monday.

Just over a week since its military resumed operations following a January truce, Israel said two projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip, with one intercepted and the other landing near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The incident took place in the southern West Bank village of Susiya, according to the anti-occupation NGO Center for Jewish Nonviolence, whose members said they filmed the events first-hand.

Democratic lawmakers swiftly blasted the misstep, saying it was a breach of US national security and a violation of law that must be investigated by Congress. 

The warning came as Israel pressed the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm since a January 19 ceasefire.

The warning came as Israel stepped up the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm in the war-battered territory since a January 19 ceasefire.

A bus carrying Indonesian pilgrims was involved in a collision at Wadi Qudeid, the road between Mecca and Medina located around 150 kilometers from Jeddah, causing the vehicle to overturn and catch fire.

Heavy air strikes began strafing Gaza early Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

"The health ministry has recorded more than 330 deaths, most of them Palestinian women and children, and hundreds of wounded, dozens of them in critical condition," the head of the ministry, Mohammed Zaqut, told AFP.