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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers on Monday that "some progress" had been made in negotiations to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.

"Everything we are doing cannot be disclosed. We are taking actions to bring them back. I wish to say cautiously that there has been some progress, and we will not stop acting until we bring them all home," Netanyahu said in parliament, as talks to reach a deal have been renewed in recent days.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon on Monday urged the Israeli military to speed up its withdrawal from the area, nearly a month after a ceasefire came into effect.

"UNIFIL strongly urges accelerated progress in the IDF's (Israeli military) withdrawal from and the LAF's (Lebanese army) deployment in south Lebanon," the force said in a statement, calling on "all actors to cease and refrain from violations of resolution 1701 and any actions that could jeopardise the fragile stability that currently prevails."

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday that Russia was in contact with Syria's new Islamist-led administration at both a diplomatic and military level.

Russia granted former president Bashar al-Assad and his family asylum this month after rebels took control of Damascus following a lightning and largely unopposed advance.

Moscow has said previously it is in talks about the fate of a naval facility it operates at the port of Tartous and about the Hmeimim air base it operates in Latakia province.

Israeli forces have fired at a young Palestinian man at the Himza checkpoint in occupied east Jerusalem, Palestinian media said on Monday.

Ambulances were reportedly prevented from reaching the young man after he was shot.

A Palestinian officer was killed Monday during clashes with militants in the occupied West Bank, the security forces said, marking the second such death in as many days amid ongoing fighting in the Jenin area.

Clashes between local militants and the security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are uncommon, but Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have experienced frequent gunfights for nearly two weeks, triggered by arrests earlier this month.

"The officer was killed after he was targeted by treacherous and cowardly gunfire from outlaws in the Jenin camp," Anwar Rajab, spokesman for the PA's security force said in a statement.

Tensions in Jenin -- also a frequent target of Israeli military raids -- have escalated after Palestinian security forces arrested several activists and militants.

Palestinian rivals of the Fatah party, which dominates the PA, have condemned the arrests and accused the security forces of aiding Israel.

In addition to the two security personnel, three people have been killed since the clashes began on December 5: two civilians and a field commander of the Jenin armed battalion.

yria's de facto ruler Ahmed Al-Sharaa said on Monday after a meeting with Qatar's state minister for foreign affairs that Qatar expressed a readiness to invest in Syria in sectors including energy and ports.

Sharaa added that he invited Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to visit Syria.

The Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army has warned residents in south Lebanon not to move south to the village line and its surroundings, saying that they could be 'targeted' by the Israeli army.

Avichay Adraee published the names of 62 villages Lebanese were prohibited to return to until further notice.

Despite the ceasefire implemented in Lebanon late last month, Israel has gone to violate the truce dozens of times and many of its troops remain stationed in the south.

 

‼️ تذكير جديد إلى سكان جنوب لبنان انه حتى إشعار آخر يحظر عليكم الانتقال جنوبًا إلى خط القرى ومحيطها
🔸جيش الدفاع لا ينوي استهدافكم ولذلك يحظر عليكم في هذه المرحلة العودة إلى بيوتكم من هذا الخط جنوبًا حتى إشعار آخر. كل من ينتقل جنوب هذا الخط - يعرض نفسه للخطر
🔸وكذلك يرجى…

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee)

An official from one of only two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza told AFP on Monday that Israeli forces were continuing to target his facility and urged the international community to intervene before "it is too late."

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, described the situation at the medical facility as "extremely dangerous and terrifying" owing to shelling by Israeli forces.

Safiya reported that the hospital, which is currently treating 91 patients, had been targeted on Monday by Israeli drones.

"This morning, drones dropped bombs in the hospital's courtyards and on its roof," said Safiyeh in a statement.

"The shelling, which also destroyed nearby houses and buildings, did not stop throughout the night."

The shelling and bombardment have caused extensive damage to the hospital, Safiya added.

"Bullets hit the intensive care unit, the maternity ward, and the specialised surgery department causing fear among patients," he said, adding that a generator was also targeted.

A Saudi delegation has met Syria's new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus, a source close to the government told AFP on Monday.

The delegation joins a list of visitors to the Syrian capital since the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, led by Sharaa, spearheaded the toppling of president Bashar al-Assad on December 8.

The "Saudi senior delegation met Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus yesterday discussing (the) Syria situation and captagon", the source said, referring to the illegal synthentic stimulant that has flooded the region from Syria.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Assad's government in 2012 and backed Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow him early in the country's civil war.

But last year, Riyadh restored ties with Assad's government and was instrumental in Syria's return to the Arab League, ending its regional isolation.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 45,317 Palestinians and wounded 107,713 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Monday.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.

A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.

His remarks corresponded with comments by the Israeli diaspora minister, Amichai Chikli, who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months.

"This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground," Chikli told Israel's Kan radio. Much hinged on what powers would be running and rehabilitating Gaza once fighting stopped, he said.

The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas' rule of Gaza first.

"The issue of ending the war completely hasn't yet been resolved," said the Palestinian official.

At least three people have been injured by Israeli raids in Khan Younis, Al Jazeera is reporting, as attacks on the city continue.

Ambulance crews have transferred the wounded people after an Israeli aircraft struck a group of people, according to a statement by the civil defence in Gaza on Telegram.

The attack took place in the Bani Suhaila roundabout on the Salah al-Din Street – located in the east of Khan Younis.

The Kremlin on Monday rejected Turkish media reports which suggested that Asma al-Assad, the British-born wife of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, wanted a divorce and to leave Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also rejected Turkish media reports which suggested that Assad had been confined to Moscow and had his property assets frozen.

Asked on a conference call if the reports corresponded to reality, Peskov said: "No they do not correspond to reality."

Turkish and Arabic media reported on Sunday that Asma al-Assad had filed for divorce in Russia, where the Assad family were granted asylum this month after rebels took control of Damascus following a lightning advance

The UK charity Oxfam said only 12 aid trucks have been used to distribute humanitarian relief to Palestinians in north Gaza over the past 2 and a half months, after only 34 trucks managed to enter the territory.

The charity blamed the Israeli army's deliberate delays and systematic obstructions for the little aid reaching Palestinians in the war-torn territory.

🚨BREAKING: Of the meagre 34 trucks of food and water given permission to enter the North Gaza Governorate over the last 2.5 months, deliberate delays and systematic obstructions by the Israeli military meant that just twelve managed to distribute aid to starving Palestinian…

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam)

Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs arrived in Damascus on Monday on the first Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital since the fall of Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Doha's foreign ministry said.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi was the most senior official of the Gulf Arab state to visit Syria since rebels toppled the Assad family's 54-year-long rule.

 

وصل إلى دمشق قبل قليل على متن اول طائرة للخطوط الجوية القطرية تحط في مطار العاصمة السورية منذ سقوط نظام بشار الأسد سعادة ،على رأس وفد قطري رسمي رفيع المستوى لعقد مجموعة من اللقاءات مع المسؤولين السوريين وتجسيداً للموقف القطري الثابت في تقديم كل الدعم للأشقاء في…

— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari)

Iran said Monday it had "no direct contact" with Syria's new rulers after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.

"We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.

Footage and images shared online show Israeli soldiers detaining Palestinians inside a stadium in Hebron's Al-Fawwar Camp.

The videos show the Palestinian men both sat and stood and being surrounded by Israeli troops.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society group said nearly 100 people were held at the stadium in what was the third raid on the camp within 24 hours, and that Israeli forces closed all entrances and exits of the camp and prohibited movement inside, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli occupation soldiers detain dozens of Palestinians in the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of the occupied West Bank.

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen)

Three Palestinian men were wounded by live bullets at dawn on Monday amid an Israeli army raid on Qalandia camp, north of Jerusalem.

According to eyewitnesses as cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the occupation forces raided and searched a number of homes in the camp.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi is set to visit Damascus on Monday to meet with Syria's new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Amman said, the latest high-profile visit since Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.

The Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader on Monday as well as with "several Syrian officials".

This is the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad's fall.

Government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Jordan "sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people", stressing the close ties between the two nations.