Israel's Defense Ministry said Thursday it conducted a successful test of the country's advanced missile defense system against long-range ballistic attacks.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the successful flight test of the Arrow-2 interceptor was part of Israel's technological effort that "ensures that we will always be one step ahead of our enemies."

Saudi Arabia's King Salman arrived at a planned Red Sea megacity to "rest and recuperate", state media said Thursday, after the 84-year-old ruler underwent surgery to remove his gall bladder.

Israel announced Thursday it was halting the "import of fuel into the Gaza Strip", the latest punitive measure over a wave of airborne fire bombs from the Palestinian territory.

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 172 people across Yemen over the past month, damaging homes and UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, officials said.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it carried out overnight strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after incendiary balloons were launched across the border from the Palestinian enclave.

The only crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Tuesday for 72 hours, allowing people to leave the Palestinian enclave for the first time since the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

Egyptians went to vote Tuesday for a new Senate in an upper house election seen unlikely to revive vibrant political life under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's rule.

Israel will close its goods crossing with the Gaza Strip, authorities said Monday, after militants in the Hamas-run territory fired rockets into the Mediterranean and launched incendiary balloons towards the Jewish state.

Egypt's civil aviation ministry said that after Lebanon's massive explosion last week it was moving "dangerous materials" held at airports nationwide to more secure locations.

The Gaza Strip's rulers Hamas fired rockets into the sea on Monday after repeated exchanges of fire with Israel in recent days, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said.