South Africa declared Israel's deputy ambassador persona non grata on Friday and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.

The South African Foreign Ministry said that it was expelling Ariel Seidman, the charge d'affaires at the embassy, because of repeated official Israeli social media posts that insulted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Palestinian militant group Hamas called on Friday for Israel to reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing to Egypt immediately in both directions.

In a statement, the group called for the "immediate transition to the second phase" of the U.S.-brokered truce in Gaza, namely its provision for the reopening of Rafah, as well as the entry of a technocratic Palestinian committee to administer the territory.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that the success of diplomacy with the United States hinged on ending threating conduct after Washington's heavy military deployments in the Gulf.

"The success of any diplomatic initiative depends on the goodwill of the parties involved and the abandonment of belligerent and threatening actions in the region," said Pezeshkian in a call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a statement by the Iranian presidency.

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi landed in Istanbul on Friday for talks where Turkey was to offer help to mediate tensions with the United States, which has mooted a possible military strike.

Turkey Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged Washington to resist Israeli pressure to launch a military strike on Iran, warning it would cause "great harm" to a fragile region.

Kurdish forces in Syria said they had reached a comprehensive agreement with Damascus that included their gradual integration into the state on Friday, following weeks of clashes between the two sides that led to a ceasefire.

According to a statement shared by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the agreement stipulates that government forces will enter the Kurdish-controlled cities of Hasakeh and Qamishli in the northeast, while three army brigades will be created out of SDF forces.

The Israeli military said on Friday it launched overnight strikes at "eight terrorists" in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing three of them, with a fragile ceasefire still in place in the Palestinian territory.

In a statement, the military said it had identified "eight terrorists" who emerged from underground and that the air force "struck and eliminated three of the terrorists".

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Emirati counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow on Thursday ahead of a second round of talks on the Ukraine war in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has emerged as a key mediator in the nearly four-year war, brokering a number of prisoner exchanges between the two sides and most recently hosting talks between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials on a U.S.-drafted plan to end the fighting.

Iran's army on Thursday added 1,000 drones to its combat regiments as its chief vowed a "crushing response" to any attack, state television reported, after the United States moved a strike force into regional waters.

"In accordance with the threats we are facing, maintaining and enhancing strategic advantages for rapid combat and a crushing response to any invasion... is always on the army's agenda," Iran's army commander Amir Hatami said, cited by state television.

The Kremlin said on Thursday there was still room for negotiations in the standoff between ally Tehran and Washington, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new military strikes on Iran.

"It is clear that the potential for negotiations is not exhausted," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, adding: "any use of force can only create chaos in the region and lead to very dangerous consequences."

Turkey will offer to help resolve tensions between Washington and Tehran when Iran's top diplomat visits, a foreign ministry source said Thursday a day ahead of the visit.

"Turkey is ready to contribute to resolving the current tensions through dialogue," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was to tell his counterpart Abbas Araghchi when the pair meet on Friday, the source said.