Gaza Strip

Iran launched its first direct military attack against Israel on Saturday. The Israeli military says Iran fired more than 100 bomb-carrying drones toward Israel. Hours later, Iran announced it had also launch much more destructive ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Troop reinforcements from Israel's ally the United States headed to the region on Saturday, with fears of wider war growing more than six months into Israel's assault in the Gaza Strip.

After pulling forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis one week ago, Israel's military said Saturday it was continuing to operate against militants in central Gaza.

German airline Lufthansa said Friday its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran amid soaring Middle East tensions.

"Due to the current situation, Lufthansa is suspending its flights to and from Tehran up to and including Thursday, 18 April," a company spokesperson said Friday.

In a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian movement Hamas has issued a call for a ceasefire to facilitate the location and release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Three sons and four grandsons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Hamas officials and Haniyeh's family confirmed the deaths. The Israeli army acknowledged the attack, identifying the three sons as members of Hamas' armed wing. Hamas stated that the victims were traveling in a car when it was targeted in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza.

Israel is blocking far more convoys carrying food aid within Gaza, where famine is looming, than convoys carrying other kinds of aid, the U.N. said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the United Nations' humanitarian agency pointed to statistics from March showing that it was much more difficult to get clearance for delivering food than other aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"The Islamic world must show unity to end Israel's attacks on Palestine as soon as possible," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged in a phone call with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.

United Nations officials said on Monday that six months of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border "must stop", urging de-escalation "while there is still space for diplomacy".

Efforts to broker a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have shown signs of progress, with Egypt reporting advancements in negotiations between the two sides. However, the Israeli army has issued a cautionary statement, emphasizing that the withdrawal from the city of Khan Younis does not mark the end of military operations in the region.

Israeli leaders were preparing Monday for military operations in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where most of the Palestinian territory's population has fled after six months of fighting.

Talks in Cairo aimed at brokering a truce have made "significant progress", with more negotiations expected in the coming days, Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera reported Monday.