Israel's foreign minister expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Gaza, saying that if a temporary truce was sealed, Israel would negotiate on a permanent end to the hostilities.

"Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire. I believe it's achievable. If a temporary ceasefire is achieved, we will negotiate on a permanent ceasefire," Gideon Saar told a press conference in Bratislava with his Slovakian counterpart.

When the onetime director of a Gaza Strip hospital was killed by an Israeli airstrike last week, he joined a growing list of prominent Palestinian doctors who have died during 21 months of war that has devastated the territory's health system.

The death of Dr. Marwan al-Sultan, a 49-year-old cardiologist, was described by colleagues as a major blow personally and professionally, leaving another void in Gaza's medical establishment that will not be easily replaced.

The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group renewed Wednesday a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state.

In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber's YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, declared that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump on Monday that he recommended him for the prestigious award, handing the American leader the letter he said he sent the Nobel committee.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in the northern Gaza Strip, Israel's military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said that 51 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan to pause the Gaza fighting. While there was no announcement of a breakthrough, there were signs of progress toward a deal.

Rescuers launched a search Wednesday for survivors of a Liberian-flagged cargo ship that came under attack from Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, authorities said. At least three mariners were killed and two were wounded.

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Iranian-backed Houthis attacking another vessel, the bulk carrier Magic Seas, on Sunday in the Red Sea, which they subsequently sank. The assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since late 2024 in the waterway that had begun to see more ships pass through in recent weeks.

Syria's minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are continuing but "need time", host Qatar cautioned on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.

An ongoing attack on a cargo vessel in the Red Sea has killed two people, an official and maritime monitors said Tuesday, after Yemen's Houthi rebels resumed their campaign against shipping in the vital waterway.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war.