Israel's defense minister on Thursday visited the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, in a show of cooperation aimed at sending a message toward archenemy Iran.

Benny Gantz toured the U.S. naval base on the second day of his official visit to Bahrain — a strategically located Arab country in the heart of the Persian Gulf. Israel and Bahrain, which share a deep animosity toward Iran, established official relations in 2020.

The FBI has confirmed purchasing NSO Group's powerful spyware tool Pegasus, whose chronic abuse to surveil journalists, dissidents and human rights activists has long been established. It suggested its motivation was to "stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft."

The agency added in a statement that it obtained a limited license from the Israeli firm "for product testing and evaluation only," never using it operationally or to support any investigation.

U.S. special operations forces conducted a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria overnight Thursday, in what the Pentagon said was a "successful mission." Residents and activists reported multiple deaths — including civilians — from the attack.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a brief statement that the mission was a success. "There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available."

Israel's outgoing attorney general has okayed a deal between the government and West Bank settlers that would retroactively authorize an outpost established without official approval, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

The move pushes forward the deal, which still needs a final green light from the country's defense minister, who signed on to the plan last year. It puts further strain on the country's fragile, ideologically-diverse governing coalition, which includes parties that support and oppose Palestinian statehood.

A clan-based militia government in the Arab world's poorest country is presenting the Biden administration with another foreign policy setback as Yemen's Houthis launch cross-border drone and ballistic-missile strikes rattling the wealthy oil and banking hubs of the Gulf.

In the face of three such strikes in as many weeks, U.S. officials are studying financial measures targeting the Houthis and the group's top figures. New sanctions are possible as soon as this week.

Israel's defense minister on Wednesday began a trip to Bahrain, the first official visit by an Israeli defense chief since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 2020.

The two-day visit by Benny Gantz is scheduled to include meetings with top Bahrain defense officials and Bahraini leaders, the Israeli Defense Ministry said. There was no immediate confirmation of the visit from Bahrain, which like Israel, has great animosity toward Iran.

Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish militant positions in Iraq and Syria early on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive which officials said aimed to protect Turkey's borders from terrorist threats.

A Turkish defense ministry statement said the strikes hit targets on Sinjar Mountain and in the Karacak region in northern Iraq, and the Derik region in northern Syria.

Israel's prime minister has acknowledged that its Iron Dome defense system is too expensive and the country is speeding the rollout of laser technology to help protect it from rocket attacks.

Naftali Bennett told a security conference that the new generation of technology -- a "laser wall" -- will be unveiled within a year in southern Israel. Little is known about the system's effectiveness, but the system eventually is expected to be deployed on land, in the air and at sea and send a deterrent message to archenemy Iran and its proxies.

A gas leak has killed a family of seven in their Cairo home, Egyptian authorities said.

According to a police statement, the tragedy took place on Monday in the Sharabia neighborhood of the Egyptian capital where the family — the parents and five siblings, aged 13 to 26 — died of suffocation.

Israeli police on Tuesday demolished the east Jerusalem home of a Palestinian militant who killed an Israeli man and wounded four others in a November shooting in Jerusalem's Old City.

Fadi Abu Shkhaidem shot Eliyahu Kay, a 26-year-old immigrant from South Africa, and wounded two police officers and two other bystanders in November's incident near Jerusalem's flashpoint holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. He was fatally shot by police at the scene.