The White House and Pentagon have prepared plans to use a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb on Iran if ordered by President Trump, CBS News reported.

"The Department of War plans for a wide range of operational scenarios to execute Presidential and Secretary level direction and to ensure mission success in any operational environment," CBS News said, quoting a Pentagon official.

"We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist. President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," it citing a White House spokesperson as saying.

Two Israeli human rights groups have said that they had received at least 22 testimonies from prisoners and detainees, most of them Palestinians, who reported being shot and seriously wounded by Israeli prison guards.

The findings were included in a joint report by Physicians for Human Rights–Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.

The organizations said they received the testimonies, most of them over the past year, from individuals who reported that prison guards had fired projectiles they described as rubber, plastic or sponge bullets.

They said 21 testimonies were given by Palestinian prisoners and one by a Jewish prisoner.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Lebanon's president that he should not return several hundred kilograms of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities from Hezbollah, a US official said.

"He urged President (Joseph) Aoun to hold accountable all those who ordered, financed, and directed the shipment, and underscored that returning explosives to Hezbollah should be out of the question," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Hezbollah acknowledged on Thursday that a 500-kilogramme shipment of explosives belonging to it was seized last week by Lebanese authorities, saying it was intended for "the resistance."

Authorities say five Saudi airports, including Riyadh’s main airport, have come under Houthi militia attacks since October 5.

Israeli forces have killed some 1,500 people, including more than 320 children, in Gaza since the ceasefire, senior UN official Ramiz Alakbarov says.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al Shaibani has arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as the head of a high-level delegation for an official visit, SANA news agency reported.

The visit comes within the framework of strengthening consultations and developing bilateral relations between the two countries, the agency said.

Details on the duration of the visit, its detailed agenda or whom al Shaibani is scheduled to meet were not immediately available.

Lebanon has asked the US to urge Israel to halt attacks that target southern Lebanese towns despite a framework deal.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the latest situation in Lebanon and the region, according to a presidency statement.

Aoun asked Rubio to push Tel Aviv to abide by the provisions of the framework agreement, cease land-clearing operations, allow farmers to access their fields, and refrain from targeting them.

More than 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Yemen since August, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

Haq told reporters that the fighting between the Houthi militia and the internationally recognised Yemeni government continues to force people from their homes and place additional pressure on humanitarian operations, citing warnings from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"Our colleagues at the International Organisation for Migration have reported more than 230,000 people displaced by fighting since the start of August," said Haq.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has said he has repeatedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that establishing a Palestinian state would bring peace and benefit everyone.

Speaking at the Police Academy’s 2026 graduation ceremony in New Cairo, Sisi said that in all his meetings and communications with Netanyahu since 2014, he had repeatedly emphasised that “the establishment of a Palestinian state would benefit everyone and lead to lasting peace and stability in the region.”

Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges related to Gaza, has repeatedly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state as envisaged in relevant UN resolutions.

Sisi stressed that “the stability of Sudan, Libya and Gaza is a requirement of Arab and Egyptian national security.”

A senior UN official has warned that the situation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank is dangerously fragile, saying a return to war must be avoided at all costs.

Briefing the UN Security Council on Palestine, Ramiz Alakbarov, UN acting special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, marked the anniversary of the October 7 events, saying Palestinians and Israelis need a political horizon.

"Palestinians and Israelis deserve more than short-term fixes. They deserve a credible path to peace and finally an end to this conflict," he said.

"The international community must move beyond words and take concrete actions to ensure the future of security and dignity of the people. It is time to return to a genuine peace process.”

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has begun a visit to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where he is expected to meet with senior officials.

Lebanon’s official news agency said the Qatari plane carrying Al Thani arrived at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, where he was received by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Al Thani is scheduled to meet on Friday with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Salam.

Syria’s Petroleum Company has said the Al-Jabsa gas export pipeline in eastern Syria came under attack, sparking a fire, according to state news agency SANA.

Syrian Petroleum Company spokesperson Uday al-Satouf told SANA that the targeted area lies 60 kilometres from the city of Al-Shaddadi.

“The attack caused a fire along the pipeline,” he said.

“Specialised authorities are following developments to deal with the explosion and contain its effects,” said Al-Satouf.

The area was isolated, and sectional valves before and after the targeted section were shut, while firefighting, security and safety teams secured the surrounding area, he added.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in the southwestern Saudi Arabian city of Khamis Mushait and another drone launched towards the country's southern region.

Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority also issued an early-warning alert over a potential threat in the southern province of Najran before saying the danger had passed.

Nineteen people have been killed and 364 wounded in attacks by Houthi militia on Saudi airports, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport, the Saudi-led coalition said.

“Houthi attacks on the Kingdom have intensified since the beginning of October, following an escalation by the militia against Saudi Arabia since July,” spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said at a news conference broadcast by the Saudi Al-Akhbariya News TV.

“King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had been targeted in 20 Houthi attacks since the beginning of October,” he said.

“Seventeen people were killed and 333 others injured in attacks on the airport between October 7 and 11.”

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan have discussed recent Houthi militia attacks on the kingdom in a phone call.

Motegi said attacks on civilians and civilian facilities "can never be tolerated" and voiced "strong" denunciation of the Houthi militia attacks, according to a foreign ministry statement.

He said Japan urged the Houthis to "stop escalating the situation" and "directly called on Iran to urge" the group to "exercise restraint".

Motegi also requested Saudi Arabia's cooperation in ensuring the safety of Japanese nationals in the country.

The Houthi militia has targeted the area surrounding Al-Maashiq Palace in Yemen's southern city of Aden, the interim capital, state media reported.

The Houthi militia is currently shelling civilians’ homes in the area, according to the Saba news agency.

At least four people have been killed and 10 more wounded in a Houthi militia missile attack on the presidential palace in Yemen's Aden, which also serves as the internationally recognised government's headquarters, three government military sources told AFP.

Earlier, the Yemeni information ministry said Houthi militia fired missiles at Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, killing the prime minister’s two security personnel, adding that all government members are safe.

Later, a ministerial source told AFP that the Yemeni PM was in the presidential palace at the time of the attack.

Houthi militia attacked a military headquarters at the presidential palace in Aden, which also serves as the seat of the internationally recognised government, media affiliated with the group reported.

The militia targeted "the headquarters of military operations at the Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, as well as weapons depots belonging to them", according to the group's news agency.

A Yemeni human rights group has said that the Houthi militia fire killed seven civilians, and the group detained 26 others in Taiz province in southwestern Yemen during 48 hours.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, a nongovernmental organisation, said in a report that it documented “219 crimes and violations committed by the Houthis” in Taiz in the last 48 hours.

It said the violations included killings, injuries, abductions, enforced disappearances, raids and searches of homes, looting, indiscriminate shelling of residential neighbourhoods, and a tightening of the siege on the city.

Palestinian Prisoners Society says at least 350 children remain in detention under harsh conditions.

The summit is expected to adopt a Baku declaration and a statement on cooperation in occupational safety and health.

A lasting solution requires the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, says Turkish top diplomat Hakan Fidan.

Iran's military has said an oil tanker had caught fire in the Gulf of Oman as it was attempting to pass through an area deemed prohibited, according to state television.

"A few hours ago, surveillance teams of the army's navy identified a non-compliant oil tanker that had caught fire," state television cited a military statement as saying.

"The offending tanker had switched off its tracking systems and was attempting to pass through the prohibited zone," it added.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire or who was responsible.

The Saudi-led coalition has said that the Houthi militia had attacked Riyadh's airport 20 times in October.

During a presentation in Riyadh covering the strikes, coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said: "The Houthis must immediately cease all terrorist operations targeting civilians and civilian facilities, including airports, ports, oil facilities, and infrastructure."

A Saudi foreign ministry official has accused Iran of encouraging the Houthi militia in their ongoing fight with the kingdom, adding that Tehran continues to arm and train the group.

"Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions," Dr Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry, said during a virtual briefing with reporters.

He later added, "We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran."

A Saudi foreign ministry official has said the country reached out to the Houthi militia in recent weeks as fighting escalates between the two sides, but the group refused to meet in Oman.

"At the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman, and they refused. This was the last communication which happened a few weeks ago," said Dr Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry, during a virtual briefing with reporters.

Former US President Barack Obama has criticised Israel’s handling of the Middle East conflict, warning that military strength cannot guarantee lasting security and that refusing concessions to Palestinians risks undermining its moral standing.

The former president made the remarks on Tuesday during a discussion with award-winning writer and journalist Susan McKay in Belfast, Northern Ireland, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

Obama said the violence should “pain everybody”, describing it as a destructive cycle driven by historical grievances, hardened attitudes and deep divisions.

Israel has continued to close the Rafah land crossing for a second week, preventing patients from leaving Gaza for treatment abroad and causing a “dangerous buildup” of critical cases, the Gaza health ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry warned that the continued closure had led to a “dangerous and rapidly growing accumulation of critical cases,” with waiting lists for treatment abroad increasing by the day.

It said the number of people awaiting evacuation far exceeds the capacity of Gaza’s deteriorating and besieged hospitals to accommodate them or provide even the minimum level of treatment.

Iraqi and Saudi officials discussed strengthening security coordination and tightening control over their shared border as part of efforts to address security challenges facing the two countries.

The meeting came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi held talks in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on regional developments and enhancing security coordination to address common challenges.

During the meeting, Al-Zaidi reaffirmed Iraq’s firm position of “not allowing its territory to be used as a launching point for any attacks or acts that threaten the security of the kingdom and the countries of the region,” according to a statement from his media office.

A Hezbollah official acknowledged that a truck carrying explosives seized by Lebanese authorities last week belonged to the group, saying the materials were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah dismissed allegations that the explosives were part of an assassination plot as “baseless.”

The statement marked the group’s first comment on the seized explosives.