Spotlight
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader.
The choice of Sinwar, a secretive figure who leads Hamas’ hardliners and is close to Iran, was a defiant step. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s kill list as it seeks to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the Oct. 7 attack.

Calling for calm in the Middle East, top U.S. national security leaders have said that they and allies are directly pressing Israel, Iran and others to avoid escalating the conflict, even as the U.S. moved more troops to the region and threatened retaliation if American forces are attacked.
"It's urgent that everyone in the region take stock of the situation, understand the risk of miscalculation, and make decisions that will calm tensions, not exacerbate them," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the close of a meeting with Australian leaders.

Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader in a dramatic sign of the power of the Palestinian militant group's hardline wing after his predecessor was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Iran.
The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure close to Iran who worked for years to build up Hamas' military strength, was a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel's campaign in Gaza and after the assassination of Sinwar's predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkey’s foreign minister has announced that his country will on Wednesday formally submit a request to intervene in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Hakan Fidan, whose country is among the fiercest critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza, made the comment in Cairo during a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart. Turkey in May had announced its intention to intervene in the case which was filed by South Africa.

Leaders in Egypt and Turkey are exhausting all avenues possible to prevent Israel’s war in Gaza from becoming a wider regional conflict, the Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers said Monday at a joint press conference.
Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign and migration minister, said that he spoke with his counterpart Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s minister of foreign affairs, about the crisis in Gaza, the situation in Libya and Sudan, the situation in the Red Sea and the issues in Yemen.

Palestinian officials said that Israeli forces killed six people in two separate raids in the north of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
Four people were killed in the town of Tubas and two in nearby Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said, while the Israeli army reported its aircraft struck "armed terrorist cells" in the Jenin area.

Several U.S. personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack at a military base in Iraq, U.S. defense officials said Monday, in what has been a recent uptick in strikes on American forces by Iranian-backed militias.
The attack comes as tensions across the Middle East are spiking following the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran, in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran.

Diplomatic pressure has mounted to avert an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring.
United States President Joe Biden, whose country has sent extra warships and fighter jets to the region in support of Israel, held crisis talks on Monday with his national security team.

As Iran threatens to respond to the suspected Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the regional militias that the Islamic Republic has armed for decades could play a role in any attack.
Here's a look at Iran's history of arming militias, its allies in the region and what part they could play.

Diplomatic pressure mounted Monday to avoid an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring, while numerous governments urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday that his country was "determined to stand against" Iran and its allied armed groups "on all fronts".
