Lebanon

A local official and state media in Lebanon said an Israeli strike on a southern village on Sunday killed several people from the same family, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire in retaliation.

Israel's Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets. Now it is building a "cyber dome" to defend against online attacks, especially from arch foe Iran.

"It is a silent war, one which is not visible," said Aviram Atzaba, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate's head of international cooperation.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday announced $1 billion in aid for Lebanon during a visit to the crisis-hit country and urged it to tackle illegal migration to the bloc.

The European Union has already agreed deals with Tunisia, Mauritania and other countries to stem flows of irregular migrants.

The European Union will offer economic aid to Lebanon when the European Commission and Cypriot presidents jointly visit Beirut on Thursday, a Cypriot official has said.

Cyprus has grown increasingly concerned at a sharp increase in the number of Syrian refugees making their way to the island. Lebanon, a mere 185 km away from Cyprus, hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Saturday it had targeted northern Israel with drones and guided missiles after cross-border Israeli strikes killed three people, including two of its members.

A delegation from mediator Egypt is travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, speaking to public broadcaster ERT following his Qatar visit, emphasized the challenging circumstances for the region amidst Middle East turmoil, expressing concerns about hostilities extending to Lebanon and Syria. He stressed the urgency of an immediate ceasefire, citing threats to Red Sea navigation.

A week after Cyprus suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrians due to a sharp increase in arrivals, the president of the Mediterranean island, Nikos Christodoulides, warned that the EU country cannot accommodate more refugees from the war-torn country.

The United Nations' refugee agency said Friday that Cypriot efforts at sea to stop numerous Syrian refugee-laden boats departing Lebanon from reaching the European Union-member island nation mustn't contravene international human rights laws or put passengers at risk.

Israel launched more deadly strikes on besieged Gaza on Thursday as world powers watched nervously whether the country would retaliate against a weekend attack by its arch enemy Iran.

The Israeli army said it had bombed dozens of targets in the Palestinian coastal territory of 2.4 million people, more than six months into the bloodiest ever Gaza war.