Middle East & North Africa

RIYADH, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is putting U.S.-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, two sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking said, signalling a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

The conflict has also pushed the kingdom to engage with Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region.

BEIRUT, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying the party was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting.

"The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect," he told supporters gathered in the southern Beirut suburb for a rally.

BEIRUT/TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday stressed Iran's keenness to protect calm and security in Lebanon, calling leaders in the region for a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Iranian diplomat made the remarks during a press conference in Lebanon's capital Beirut with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Friday, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The visit came one day after the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amidst major fighting between Israel and Hamas that has continued for around a week.

"The security assistance will continue," Austin said at a joint press conference with Gallant, after meeting with Israeli senior defense officials at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Friday rejected claims by U.S. media that the United States and Qatar have agreed to prevent Iran from accessing its assets worth around 6 billion U.S. dollars in Qatari banks.

"The reports are far from reality," the official IRNA news agency quoted a statement from Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations as saying.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against the intensifying Israeli bombardment of Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians began a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israel’s military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group.

12 October 2023; MEMO: Israel has cut off electricity and water for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, in an apparent step to prevent them from aiding the conflict between occupation forces and Palestinian resistance fighters on the outside.

13 October 2023; MEMO: Almost all Israelis – 94 per cent – hold their government responsible for the collapse of the defence systems in the southern settlements, while 67 per cent of respondents believe the failure of the current war is greater than the failure of the October War in 1973.

13 October 2023; MEMO: Jordanian security forces have shot tear gas and grenades at Jordanians marching towards the Western border with the occupied Palestinian territories.

It is unclear if anyone has been injured as a result.

Resistance factions had called for people to head towards Palestine today, in what has been called the ‘Day of Rage’ in support of Al-Aqsa and the people of Gaza.