A person who was on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's flight back from the United Arab Emirates has tested positive for COVID-19, the prime minister's office said Tuesday.
Bennett returned to Israel on Monday from a historic two-day trip to the Gulf Arab state, the first by an Israeli leader to the country, which recently normalized ties with Israel.

Israel's intelligence minister said Tuesday that Syria cannot be allowed to obtain chemical weapons, after a report emerged that Israel targeted the country's chemical weapons facilities.
In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Elazar Stern would not directly comment on the report in the Washington Post that said that Israel struck Syria on two occasions — once this year and once last year — in a bid to block attempts to rebuild its chemical weapons stockpile. But Stern, a retired military general, hinted that Israel could not accept such weapons in the hands of its enemy to the north.

Hamas officials buried three of their members Tuesday who were killed by gunfire in a tense Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon days earlier. The militant group accused members of a rival faction of the deadly shooting.
Ayman Shanaa, an official with the militant group, told mourners that Fatah militia members were behind the shootings, which he called a "heinous and cowardly crime."

Protestors blocked roads Tuesday in Beddawi, Tripoli with trucks to object against an unprecedented LBP collapse, worsening inflation and people’s despair.
Later in the day, demonstrators blocked the Khalde highway that links Beirut to the South and the vital Corniche al-Mazraa road in the capital.

Turkey and Armenia will appoint special representatives to discuss steps to normalize their ties, Turkey's foreign minister said.
Speaking in parliament during a debate over his ministry's budget late Monday, Mevlut Cavusoglu also said charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan would restart soon.

Geneva prosecutors have fined a Swiss bank for failing to alert money laundering authorities about a portion of more than $100 million from Saudi Arabia that went to former Spanish King Juan Carlos and his ex-lover, but dropped possible charges against his associates in the case.
The Geneva prosecutor's office, in a statement Monday, said it partially dropped an investigation opened three years ago of five people for alleged money laundering, while deciding that the Mirabaud bank had failed to properly communicate with the Swiss money laundering office.

A Russian military buildup near Ukraine has raised fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow might invade its neighbor.
The tensions over Ukraine come amid a new low in relations between Russia and NATO, which once were so warm that President Vladimir Putin even floated the prospect of his country joining the military alliance.

Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert Tuesday following a magnitude 7.3 undersea earthquake that struck off Flores Island, triggering panic in a region prone to fatal quakes but apparently causing no major damage or casualties.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit at a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) under the sea, and was located 112 kilometers (74 miles) north of the town of Maumere, the second-largest on the island in East Nusa Tenggara province with a population of 85,000.

Israel's prime minister said he was returning home "very optimistic" from a two-day trip to the United Arab Emirates — the first official visit to the Gulf country by an Israeli leader since the countries established relations last year.
Naftali Bennett's trip this week to the Gulf Arab federation comes against the backdrop of nuclear talks between world powers and regional archrival Iran over its nuclear program. Israel has watched with concern as Iran has pushed a hard line against negotiators meeting in Vienna, at once demanding sanctions relief while accelerating its nuclear program.

European diplomats are expressing frustration with Iran's stance in talks aimed at salvaging its tattered 2015 nuclear deal, saying they are wasting "precious time" dealing with new Iranian demands and that "time is running out." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday diplomacy remains the best option but that Washington is engaging with partners on alternatives.
Talks in Vienna between the remaining signatories to the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, resumed last week in Vienna.
