Syrian President Bashar Assad has met with Iran's supreme leader in the capital Tehran and expressed his condolences over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, state media reported Thursday.

Assad met on Thursday with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and also expressed condolences over the death of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian who was also killed in the helicopter crash earlier this month.

A Houthi-run television channel on Friday said 14 people were killed and more than 30 wounded in strikes conducted on Yemen overnight by the United States and Britain.

"The death toll from the U.S.-British air strikes on the Hodeida radio station and the port of Salif has risen to 14, with more than 30 injured," the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels' Al-Masirah station reported.

Israel's military said it has seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month.

The capture of the Philadelphi Corridor could complicate Israel's relations with Egypt, which has complained about Israel's advance toward its border. Israel says the corridor is awash in tunnels that have funneled weapons and other goods for Hamas — despite a yearslong blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel's war in Gaza as a "genocide" during a speech accepting an award.

Labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza.

Brazil has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza, the latest repercussion from a South American nation over Israel's military campaign in the Palestinian territory.

The move was announced in Brazil's official gazette.

The Israeli military said Thursday that two soldiers were killed in a car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank.

The military said it received a report late Wednesday about the ramming near the Palestinian city of Nablus. The military said the attacker fled the scene and that soldiers had launched a search for him.

Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and promised more humanitarian aid for people in Gaza as he opened a summit with leaders of Arab states Thursday in Beijing.

"Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing people into tremendous suffering," Xi said in a speech opening the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. "War should not continue indefinitely."

Egypt and China on Wednesday signed agreements deepening their cooperation during President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's visit to Beijing.

El-Sissi, accompanied by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, witnessed the signing together with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a ceremony that coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Egypt-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and leading officials from several Middle Eastern countries in Madrid on Wednesday after Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state.

The diplomatic move by the three western European nations on Tuesday was slammed by Israel and will have little immediate impact on its grinding war in Gaza, but it was a victory for the Palestinians and could encourage other Western powers to follow suit.

Algeria is circulating a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution that would demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and order Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern city of Rafah immediately.

The draft resolution, obtained Wednesday evening by The Associated Press, also demands that the cease-fire be respected by all parties. It also calls for the immediate release of all hostages taken during Hamas' attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.