The Israeli army chief warned Tuesday that the military was ramping up its preparations for a possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the army “is accelerating operational planning and preparedness to deal with Iran and the military nuclear threat.”

Pope Francis condemned an assassination attempt against Iraq's prime minister as a "vile act of terrorism" and said Tuesday he is praying for peace in the country.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sent a telegram to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi expressing Francis' solidarity and prayers to al-Kadhimi's family and those injured in the Monday drone attack on the prime minister's residence.

Egypt and Israel have said they agreed on an increase in Egyptian border forces in a restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt has battled Islamic militants for years.

The Egyptian military said a joint military committee with Israel agreed to amend a security deal between the two countries, allowing Cairo to increase the number and capabilities of border guards in the town of Rafah.

Five European countries have expressed "serious concern" at Israel's designation of six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups after a Security Council meeting and said they will be seeking more information from Israeli authorities on the reasons for their listing.

The 15-member council took no action after the closed consultations. But a statement from Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway and Albania, which will join the council in January, said the listings "have far-reaching consequences for the organizations in political, legal and financial terms."

An assassination attempt targeting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi marks the latest escalation in tensions following last month's legislative polls, amid allegations of fraud from pro-Iran groups.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday condemned the attack that targeted Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi and said his administration would help Iraqi security forces identify those responsible.

The United States and Egypt have put a brave face on strains in their relationship amid domestic Egyptian developments and regional crises that are testing long-standing ties between the countries.

With Egypt's human rights record posing a significant irritant that has resulted in the withholding of some U.S. military aid and flashpoint situations in Egyptian neighbors Ethiopia and Sudan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry opened two days of strategic talks in Washington.

Israel's Iron Dome defense system intercepted a drone on Monday launched from Gaza by the Palestinian territory's Hamas Islamist rulers, the army said.

"A short while ago, a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) belonging to the Hamas terror organization approached the Gaza maritime zone and was intercepted," it said in a statement. 

Kuwait's government resigned Monday for the second time this year, underscoring the political problems plaguing the small, oil-rich nation.

The state-run KUNA news agency said Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, received the government's resignation notice. However, the report did not say whether Sheikh Nawaf would accept the resignation, tendered by the country's prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah.

The Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen said Monday it had killed 115 insurgents in the past 24 hours in air strikes around the northern Marib government bastion.

Nineteen vehicles were destroyed in the raids that targeted the Sirwah district west of Marib city and Al-Jawf further north, it said in a statement carried by the official Saudi news agency SPA.