Israel's defense minister said Wednesday it was only a matter of time before Israel resumes full-scale war in Gaza and moves to force out its two million Palestinians.

Israel Katz, who is known for outspoken remarks, was responding to criticism from another right-wing contender ahead of October 27 elections.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi said Beijing was willing to "safeguard" Iran's rights during talks with his counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to mediate in Tehran's war with the United States.

"China is also willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Iran, and safeguard Iran's legitimate rights and interests," Wang told Araghchi as they met in the Chinese capital.

President Joseph Aoun told AFP that Lebanon wants a new force, from Europe or elsewhere, to avoid a security "vacuum" in the south when U.N. peacekeepers leave at the end of the year.

"What matters is that there is no vacuum," he told AFP in an interview on Tuesday. He added that any new force for Lebanon's south, part of which is occupied by Israel, would be "temporary until the (Lebanese) army can deploy".

The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam's holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region.

Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

A Lebanese prosecutor on Tuesday requested that former president Michel Aoun be indicted over the 2020 Beirut port blast that killed more than 200 people, a judicial official told AFP.

The prosecutor at Lebanon's Court of Cassation asked the judge overseeing the case, Tarek Bitar, to "press charges against (former) president Aoun," said the official, requesting anonymity.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Cairo on Tuesday ahead of meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egyptian state-linked media said, as the kingdom reels from strikes by Yemen's Houthis.

The Saudi de facto ruler "arrived in Egypt on an official visit", reported Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egyptian intelligence services. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said Sisi received the crown prince for his "work visit".

Saudi Arabia vowed on Tuesday to respond "firmly" to attacks by Yemen's Houthis, after the Iran-backed fighters wounded 13 people in the kingdom in an assault using ballistic missiles and drones.

The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

The Kremlin on Tuesday welcomed what it called U.S. President Donald Trump's "good idea" for a truce between Russia and Ukraine on striking energy infrastructure.

"We have seen President Trump's post. We consider it a good idea, a good initiative. We are in contact with the Americans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, a day after Trump announced the warring sides had agreed to a truce, despite neither Kyiv or Moscow having said a deal had been struck.

Qatar on Tuesday warned of dire consequences if the vital Bab al-Mandab waterway were to close, after a months-long blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and recent Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast.

"The world is suffering enough with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so we cannot also afford to add the Bab al-Mandab into that equation," Qatar foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi told reporters.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa on Tuesday visited the southern town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, accompanied by a delegation from the state-run Council for Development and Reconstruction.

His first stop was the town’s church, which coincided with the movement of Israeli military vehicles in the adjacent town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh as an Israeli drone hovered over the area surrounding the church.