In recent talks with Lebanon, Israel demanded information on the remains of Lebanese Jews kidnapped and assassinated during the country's civil war from 1975 to 1990 by groups linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump said that the Iran war was "small potatoes" for the United States, in his administration's latest bid to play down the conflict ahead of crucial midterm elections.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv with a plan to end more than four years of war in Ukraine.

Iranian media on Saturday reported several explosions near the country's major oil hub of Kharg Island in the Gulf, days after renewed fighting broke out with the United States.

Two broken threads were observed on the Bayeux Tapestry after the centuries-old artefact was transported to London, but it was more or less "in the same state", France's culture minister said Friday.

"A break of two threads over a length of 70 meters of a tapestry was reported," Catherine Pegard told the RTL broadcaster. La Croix newspaper reported that a thorough check by experts had confirmed "no major damage" in its initial findings.

Hamas called on Arab and Muslim countries on Friday to oppose a proposal from two Israeli ministers to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and send them abroad.

"Escalating statements by ministers in the Israeli government regarding the continued adoption of plans to displace the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip represent an extremely dangerous development," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

Southern Lebanon's Ali al-Taher ridge, which the Israeli army on Thursday said it captured, was a strategic position for Iran-backed Hezbollah, where it was believed to have established a command center.

Hezbollah did not confirm losing the highland, which is around 10 kilometers from the border with Israel and was targeted by several Israeli strikes in recent weeks despite a ceasefire.

President Joseph Aoun thanked the "United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump" in a statement Friday after the Red Cross transferred to Lebanon four more people detained by Israel, a day after a first person was freed.

Aoun in a statement expressed his gratitude "for all the efforts exerted, particularly by the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump, and by international bodies, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross".

Clashes between Yemen's Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces have killed 81, military and medical sources said on Friday, as the Iran-backed rebels push towards territory bordering a chokepoint in the strategic Red Sea.

Fighting erupted on Thursday, after the Houthis launched a ground assault along with rocket and drone attacks near coastal areas, vying for control of the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait at the Red Sea's southern entrance.

Israel's defense minister on Friday hailed the capture of a strategic highland from Hezbollah as solidifying Israel's "security zone" in Lebanon and vowed that troops would not leave it.

"The capture of the Ali al-Taher ridge marks the completion of the phase of securing control in the security zone in southern Lebanon," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.