Iran says it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. The move came as semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported live fire exercises in the vital waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil passes.

The move is a rare, perhaps unprecedented shutdown of the strait, a signal from Iran of the potential fallout to the world economy if the United States goes through with threats to attack it as tensions mount between the two countries.

The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize. It could begin very soon, U.S. news portal Axios reported on Wednesday.

A U.S. military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like full-fledged war than last month's pinpoint operation in Venezuela, sources told Axios.

The U.N. missions for 85 member states issued a joint statement Tuesday condemning Israel's encroaching control of the West Bank, which critics say amounts to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," the statement reads. "Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed."

What began as an ordinary shift for Jerusalem bus driver Fakhri Khatib ended hours later in tragedy.

A chaotic spiral of events, symptomatic of a surge in racist violence targeting Arab bus drivers in Israel, led to the death of a teenager, Khatib's arrest and calls for him to be charged with aggravated murder.

Iran and Russia will conduct naval maneuvers in the Sea of Oman on Thursday, following the latest round of talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva, Iranian media reported.

On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, also launched exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a challenge to U.S. naval forces deployed in the region.

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Wednesday, but a security source said the death appeared to have been caused by "friendly fire".

"Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe, aged 21, from HaYogev, a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

A senior imam of the Al‑Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem said Tuesday that Israeli authorities have barred him from entering the compound, just days before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday the latest talks with the United States saw them agree on "a set of guiding principles" that would pave the way for a deal.

Israeli NGOs have raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

Syria began evacuating remaining residents of Al-Hol camp, which long housed relatives of suspected Islamic State group fighters, as it empties the formerly Kurdish-controlled facility, two officials told AFP.