Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks Wednesday in decades, part of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the war with militant group Hezbollah, a source close to the talks told AFP.

Greta Thunberg has alleged that she was tortured while detained by Israeli authorities after joining a Gaza aid flotilla attempting to break the naval blockade.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been deported by Israeli authorities after being detained with hundreds of others attempting to reach Gaza aboard an aid flotilla.

US President Donald Trump's administration has approved $230 million for Lebanon's security forces this week as they push to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group

The Israeli military on Thursday said it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.

The head of Iran's top security body, Ali Larijani, will visit Iraq on Monday before heading to Lebanon, where the government has approved a plan to disarm Tehran's ally Hezbollah, state media said.

Israel said Monday it is "interested" in striking peace agreements with neighbouring Lebanon and Syria, a potentially historic shift in the region after decades of war and animosity.

At least four people were killed in Israel in a multi-wave Iranian missile attack Tuesday shortly before a staggered ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump was meant to enter force, emergency services and the army said.

"The equation has changed," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will continue to enforce the ceasefire with force, strike everywhere in Lebanon against any threat to the State of Israel."

Since the war in Gaza broke out with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, aid organisations have been contending with a "slippery slope" when it comes to Israeli authorities' tolerance for their work, said one senior NGO staffer.

Foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will meet at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League endorsed Egypt's alternative plan for Gaza.

Israel had been preventing vast crowds of Palestinians from using a coastal road to return to northern Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the truce agreement by failing to release civilian women hostages.