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Mounting home demolitions and settler attacks plunge Palestinian village into crisis

First came the Israeli military bulldozers, which tore down a quarter of the homes in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair. Then came the settler attacks.

In the aftermath, dozens of people were left homeless and without consistent access to water and electricity. Several were injured from pepper spray and sticks, and the village's water pipe was cut — all, they said, as Israeli soldiers looked on.

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Top UN court to deliver advisory opinion on Israel's policies in occupied territories

The top United Nations court is delivering a nonbinding advisory opinion Friday on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state, a ruling that could have more effect on international opinion than it will on Israeli policies.

Friday's hearing comes against the backdrop of Israel's devastating 10-month military assault on Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel. In a separate case, the International Court of Justice is considering a South African claim that Israel's campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim that Israel vehemently denies.

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UK lifts funding block on UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Britain's new government announced on Friday it has lifted the January funding suspension for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and committed to providing £21 million ($27 million) in new funds.

"We are overturning the suspension of UNRWA funding," British foreign minister David Lammy told parliament, adding that the U.N. agency was "absolutely central" to providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian crisis sparked by Israel's war against Hamas.

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Netanyahu makes surprise visit to Gaza's Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza on Thursday, saying it was essential that Israel keep control of a strip of territory along the territory's border with Egypt, just days before he was set to give a speech to the U.S. Congress.

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1 dead, 10 hurt in Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a drone strike early Friday that hit part of central Tel Aviv near the U.S. Embassy, killing one person and injuring 10.

The aerial strike rumbled through the streets causing shards of shrapnel to rain down and spreading shards of glass over a large radius. The Houthis have launched drones and missiles toward Israel throughout the Israel-Hamas war, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against Israel. But until Friday, all were intercepted by either Israel or Western allies with forces stationed in the region.

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Assad's Baath Party clinches control of parliament, election results show

The results of Syria's parliamentary elections, announced Thursday, showed that President Bashar Assad's Baath Party has won a majority of seats, as expected.

The elections for 250 parliamentary seats were held Monday at 8,151 centers in government-held areas of the country, but the voting was repeated in several districts -- including Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Daraa -- after election officials said there had been irregularities, including voters casting ballots twice.

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This is how the US-built pier to bring aid to Gaza worked — or not

The U.S. military's pier to get humanitarian aid into Gaza has come to an end after a series of problems.

The pier was pulled from the Gaza shore on June 28 due to rough seas, and bad weather prevented troops from reinstalling it. Now, it's being dismantled and brought home.

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War in Gaza takes a mental health toll, especially on children

Nabila Hamada gave birth to twin boys in Gaza early in the war, in a hospital reeking of decaying bodies and full of displaced people. When Israeli forces threatened the hospital, she and her husband fled with only one of the babies, as medical staff said the other was too weak to leave. Soon after, Israeli forces raided the hospital, Gaza's largest, and she never saw the boy again.

The trauma of losing one twin left the 40-year-old Hamada so scared of losing the other that she became frozen and ill-equipped to deal with the daily burden of survival.

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Far-right Israeli minister defies Netanyahu in Al-Aqsa video

Israel's far-right national security minister visited Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site on Thursday, threatening to disrupt Gaza cease-fire talks.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, said he had gone up to the contested Jerusalem hilltop compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray for the return of the hostages "but without a reckless deal, without surrendering."

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Israeli delegation arrives in Cairo to continue cease-fire talks

An Israeli delegation has arrived in Egypt to continue cease-fire talks as Israel and Hamas consider the latest proposal, three Egyptian airport officials said.

International mediators continue to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased deal that would halt the fighting and free about 120 hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.

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