Middle East

Five New Zealand permanent residents have escaped Gaza through the Rafah crossing overnight, Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters says.

A group of hostages have been released today in Gaza, with the release deal back on after a row over aid supplies to the besieged enclave was resolved following mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

Hamas fighters have released 24 hostages during the first day of the war's first truce, including Israeli women and children and Thai workers, after guns fell silent across the Gaza Strip.

UN aid deliveries to Palestinians in Gaza have been suspended due to shortages of fuel and a communications shut down, as Israeli troops battle Hamas militants in the enclave.

Distribution of food and medical supplies is faltering in Gaza, residents now desperate for essentials like bread, aid officials say.

Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old Iranian girl, has died following an alleged encounter with officers over violating the country's hijab law, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

Israel bombarded Gaza with more air strikes on Monday ahead of an anticipated ground operation into the besieged Palestinian enclave as the United Nations warned that civilians were running out of…

Concerns the Israel-Hamas war could trigger wider Middle East conflict is rising, with the US sending more military assets and Israel pummelling targets in Gaza and Hamas supporters in Lebanon and…

Lebanon's army says Israel fired a missile that killed a Reuters journalist in southern Lebanon.

Israel's security cabinet has formally declared war on Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, following Hamas's attack on soldiers and civilians in southern Israel. Video

The PM says he has spoken to his Australian counterpart and both are agreed in their condemnation of attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli territory.

Hamas gunmen rampaged through Israeli towns, killing more than 250 people and escaping with hostages, with more than 230 Gazans also killed in retaliatory strikes.

At least 100 people have been killed and 150 injured in a fire at a wedding celebration near Mosul in Iraq, Iraqi state media say, with local sources saying the toll is expected to rise.

Iran's rulers have intensified a clampdown on dissent one year since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini sparked widespread dissent.

Iran's morality police are to resume controversial street patrols to enforce the dress code requiring women to cover their hair and wear loose clothing.

Analysis - A Saudi Arabian delegation is in Yemen's capital for talks with the Houthi rebel movement aimed at reaching a new and potentially permanent ceasefire.

Deadly missile strikes have briefly put the Damascus International Airport out of service, the latest in a string of attacks by Israel.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz has delivered unusually explicit comments about a possible timeline.