Saudi Arabia's King Salman invited 2,000 Palestinians to the haj at his own expense including relatives of Gazans who have sought refuge elsewhere.

Participants, who numbered 1.5 million by Monday, have travelled from all parts of the world for the annual rites, this year held in intense heat with forecast daily highs of 44 degrees Celsius.

Since the war erupted, essential aid deliveries to Gaza have been severely restricted by the Israeli government, leaving many people short of food and water, and several thousand children suffering acute malnutrition.

The plan to provide sanctuary for the Palestinian children, Prabowo said, came from the initiative of former East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa and leaders of several pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) in East and West Java.

The annual pilgrimage, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, coincides again this year with the hot Saudi summer, with officials predicting average highs of 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 leaders in southern Italy, Sullivan said the world should encourage the Palestinian militant group to accept the proposal and avoid stalemate.

Israeli ground forces have been operating in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, since early May to pursue Hamas Palestinian fighters, despite widespread international alarm over the fate of displaced people crowded in the city.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Indonesia's incoming president, Prabowo Subianto, for offering assistance in crisis-hit Gaza during their meeting Tuesday at an aid conference in Jordan.

Indonesia has called on all parties to the Gaza conflict to work quickly to implement a resolution for a three-phase ceasefire in Gaza, as Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto visits Jordan to discuss measures for a coordinated international response to the humanitarian crisis.

Indonesia, through the Foreign Ministry, has welcomed a United Nations Security Council resolution for a three-phase ceasefire plan in Gaza, urging all parties to work toward ending Israel’s eight-month assault on Gaza.

Hamas accepts the UN security council resolution in regard to the ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli troops and swap of hostages for detainees held by Israel, he said.

In his capacity as defense minister, the president-elect met with the Jordian king on Monday to discuss Indonesia's continuing concerns over the worsening humanitarian situation and rising death toll amid the war in Gaza.

A 73-year-old British man died and several other passengers and crew onboard flight SQ321 from London suffered skull, brain and spine injuries during the terrifying high-altitude ordeal.

Going on behalf of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the president-elect assured that he would coordinate with the United Nations and several heads of state to implement Jakarta’s plans for Gaza, including the resettlement of around 1,000 Palestinians to Indonesia. 

The building in the northern suburbs of Australia's largest city was attacked and sprayed with paint by a person carrying a small sledgehammer at around 3 a.m. local time on Monday, New South Wales police said.

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, which also includes Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan, called for an immediate ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, where Israel has been battling Hamas militants for more than eight months.

The former general and defence minister announced his resignation from the emergency body after failing to get a post-war plan for Gaza approved by Netanyahu, which he demanded in May.

The departure of Gantz's centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government. But it could have a serious impact nonetheless, leaving Netanyahu reliant on hardliners, with no end in sight to the Gaza war and a possible escalation in fighting with Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said the four, who were in "good medical condition", had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas's October 7 attack that sparked war, now in its ninth month.

Colombia is Israel's main coal supplier with exports of some $450 million in 2023, according to the Israeli embassy in Bogota, which remains operational despite Petro's government severing diplomatic ties in May.

The military named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, all of whom were abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7.

The pier, built by the US military to boost the delivery of direly needed relief supplies, was only briefly operational before it suffered storm damage at the end of May. After repairs, the pipeline was reestablished on Friday. 

TNI commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto said the brigade would include a support battalion, a health battalion, an engineering battalion and a supply battalion and would total 1,212 personnel.

Speaking at the Presidential Palace following a meeting with outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday, Prabowo said that Indonesia was ready to operate field hospitals and subsequently send medical personnel to besieged Gaza. 

The bill seeking to label the UN body assisting Palestinian refugees as a terror group is part of Israel's systematic attempt to deny Palestine's right to sovereignty, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has said. 

Israeli "fighter jets... conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat", the army said in a statement, adding that several terrorists were "eliminated".

Saudi Arabia has released 34 Indonesians who had entered the country without the proper haj visa, while the group's three coordinators remain in Medina to face legal proceedings.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has declared its readiness for a deployment on a peacekeeping mission to the Gaza Strip following a statement from Defense Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto on Indonesia’s willingness to send such a force to enforce a cease-fire in the war-torn region.

The comments in the May 28 interview were made a few days before Biden detailed a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, and as the Israeli prime minister struggles with deep political divisions at home.

"The expected climate for haj this year will witness an increase in average temperatures of one and a half to two degrees above normal in Mecca and Medina," national meteorology centre chief Ayman Ghulam told a press conference.