Israeli police on Tuesday arrested a man with a knife who moved threateningly towards Yair Golan, leader of Israel's main left-wing party, as he mobilized voters in Tel Aviv on election day, his party said.

"Incitement and violence will not intimidate us," Golan said in a statement, blaming the incident on the "poison machine" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sharply attacked the left in his campaign.

Jordan said Tuesday it had killed more than 20 jihadists in strikes on Syria conducted the day before, in retaliation for a deadly attack on a church.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Monday in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, with Tehran saying the discussions were "very good".

Qatar's ruler and the Iranian president discussed the Middle East war and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz during a meeting in Moscow, the emir's office said Tuesday.

A Houthi official said Tuesday that the Egyptian parliament's decision to authorize military support for Saudi Arabia to defend against the Iran-backed group's attacks was a declaration of war.

Israelis flocked to the polls Tuesday in record numbers as a deeply divided electorate delivered a verdict on veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack.

After casting his vote in Jerusalem, Netanyahu expressed worry over high voting among Israel's Arab minority and warned of attempts to "steal the election", a signal of a potential long fight ahead as he echoed his ally U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israelis entered the final 24 hours of an intense election season on Monday, as reports circulated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have clashed with the Israeli military over initiating a possible escalation with Iran immediately before the vote.

Tensions flared over reports that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff disagreed over an instruction by the prime minister to carry out an "action" that the army worried could reignite the conflict with Iran. Netanyahu's office denied the report, first published by Israel's Channel 12, as "fake news."

Egypt's parliament authorized on Monday sending military support to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom from attacks by Yemen's Houthis, following a request from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The House of Representatives "approved authorizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take the necessary measures to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", state newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

A ceasefire agreement in Gaza has not stopped what a group of independent experts commissioned by the U.N. say is genocide carried out by Israel in the territory, the team said in a new report Monday. They also accused Israeli forces of crimes against humanity, including torture and rape, in the West Bank.

Israel, which denies both the genocide and the sexual assault claims, did not immediately respond to the report's publication.

Iraq's government said Monday that a Yazidi armed group in the northern district of Sinjar would be dissolved and its fighters would join the country's official security forces.

The agreement comes as authorities seek to bring weapons under state control despite opposition from some of the country's most powerful militias, and amid a push to end Turkey's military presence in northern Iraq.