The leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch has targeted US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk over United States backing for Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and its besieged Palestinian population.

Tensions between Israel and Iran are escalating amid an already volatile Middle East, raising fears of a broader and more dangerous conflict.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel signed defense contracts worth nearly $15 billion last year, surpassing its all-time record, the country’s defense ministry said Wednesday, even as international outrage mounts over the war in Gaza. Over half the deals were with European countries.

Matthew Miller, formerly the Biden administration's state department spokesperson, told Mark Stone in a Sky News interview that it is his personal belief that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.

The chief executive of one of the world’s top consulting firms apologized to staff and admitted “process failures” in the company’s decision to help design and run a controversial Israel-backed group that supplanted the work of the United Nations to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.

People across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon.

News of the soldiers’ deaths came as Gaza’s civil defence agency reported 38 killed Friday in Israeli attacks across the territory, where Palestinians observed the Eid al-Adha holiday under the shadow

Thunberg and 11 other activists are on board a ship headed to Gaza with aid supplies, but the IDF has said it does not intend to allow the ship to dock.