The government of Cyprus is weighing a proposal for a pipeline that would carry natural gas from Israel to the island nation, where it would be processed and exported by ship to Europe and elsewhere as Russia's war in Ukraine compounds an energy crisis, the Cypriot energy minister said.

Minister Natasa Pilides said the government is mulling licensing requests from energy company Energean to move ahead with the plan once Israel decides how much offshore gas it would agree to export via such a pipeline. The plan to then liquefy and ship the gas from Cyprus is a better option than a pipeline that would connect east Mediterranean gas deposits to Europe, she said.

American forces conducted three raids in eastern Syria and arrested six Islamic State group militants, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.

In their statement, U.S. Central Command said the raids were conducted over the preceding 48 hours, and identified one of the detained militants as "al-Zubaydi," a "Syria Province Senior Official" of the group who they say was involved in planning and facilitating attacks in Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for Iraq to be allowed to choose a path not dictated by foreign powers, in an address Tuesday to a summit aimed at helping to resolve Middle East crises.

Eight people were killed and three injured Monday in an attack by gunmen on an Iraqi village previously held by the Islamic State extremist group, officials said.

The attack took place in the village of Albu Bali northwest of Fallujah in Iraq.

Syria's military said two soldiers were wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit near Damascus early on Tuesday, the first such attack in more than a month.

A military statement said there were also some "material losses" in the strikes and that Syrian air defenses intercepted and shot down a number of the missiles. It did not elaborate.

Jordan hosts a Middle East summit Tuesday bringing together regional and international players hoping to help resolve regional crises, particularly in neighboring Iraq.

Tunisia's massive election boycott has further challenged the legitimacy of President Kais Saied, but a divided and discredited opposition poses little threat to his grip on power, experts say.

Thousands of people on Sunday joined the funerals of eight young Palestinian men who drowned off the coast of Tunisia nearly two months ago as they tried to sail to new lives in Europe.

The drownings have reverberated across Gaza, drawing attention to the dire conditions in the territory after a 15-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade but also prompting some rare public criticism of the ruling Hamas militant group.

Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because of Tehran claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the mass anti-government protests underway in Iran, multiple Iraqi officials said.

The talks had been lauded as a breakthrough that would ease regional tensions. Iraq's new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month after taking office that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating the dialogue.

Three police officers were killed in a restive town in southern Jordan on Monday while trying to arrest a suspect in last week's slaying of a police commander. The main suspect was also killed in the gunbattle, authorities said.

The shootout took place near the town of Maan, where Abdul Razzaq Abdel Hafez Al Dalabeh, a local deputy police director, was killed last week.