Israeli police on Tuesday arrested a man with a knife who moved threateningly towards Yair Golan, leader of Israel's main left-wing party, as he mobilized voters in Tel Aviv on election day, his party said.

"Incitement and violence will not intimidate us," Golan said in a statement, blaming the incident on the "poison machine" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sharply attacked the left in his campaign.

Jordan said Tuesday it had killed more than 20 jihadists in strikes on Syria conducted the day before, in retaliation for a deadly attack on a church.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Monday in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, with Tehran saying the discussions were "very good".

Qatar's ruler and the Iranian president discussed the Middle East war and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz during a meeting in Moscow, the emir's office said Tuesday.

A Houthi official said Tuesday that the Egyptian parliament's decision to authorize military support for Saudi Arabia to defend against the Iran-backed group's attacks was a declaration of war.

Israelis flocked to the polls Tuesday in record numbers as a deeply divided electorate delivered a verdict on veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack.

After casting his vote in Jerusalem, Netanyahu expressed worry over high voting among Israel's Arab minority and warned of attempts to "steal the election", a signal of a potential long fight ahead as he echoed his ally U.S. President Donald Trump.

Egypt's parliament authorized on Monday sending military support to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom from attacks by Yemen's Houthis, following a request from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The House of Representatives "approved authorizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take the necessary measures to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", state newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Thousands of trucks remain stranded on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border despite the resumption of limited overland trade between the two countries, southwest Pakistan business representatives told AFP on Monday.

Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the chamber of commerce for Gwadar city on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast, said the frontier with Iran was "only partially open" to trade, with a vast backlog of vehicles at the border.

Israel's defense minister denied on Monday reports of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army over Iran, as the premier's rivals seized on the story as a line of attack a day before close elections.

Over the course of a neck-and-neck race, Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, insisting only he can "finish the job" in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis struck several of its missile launchers and storage facilities, a spokesman said on Monday, while the Iran-backed group claimed a new attack on Riyadh's international airport.

The coalition's operation came a day after explosions rattled Saudi Arabia's capital and authorities sent text messages to residents warning them of a "hostile aerial threat" to the city, which has been heavily targeted by the Houthis in recent weeks.