Seven years after fleeing the civil war in his homeland, Zahir Hamshari's life is filled with questions and doubts: How to pay the rent? How to cover the electricity bill? How to afford even basic staples like bread and bottled water?

But one thing is crystal clear for him. Like many Syrian refugees, he cannot envision returning to his war-torn country.

Israel bombed Hamas positions in Gaza overnight in retaliation for rocket fire across the border, which cut short an election rally by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military said Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a deeply controversial pledge on Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected in September 17 polls.

At least 31 pilgrims died Tuesday in a stampede at a major shrine in the Iraqi city of Karbala as they marked the holy day of Ashoura, the health ministry said.

Russia carried out air strikes on jihadist targets in northwestern Syria on Tuesday for the first time since it declared a truce on August 31, a war monitor said.

Unknown warplanes targeted an arms depot and posts of Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, killing at least 18 fighters in a nighttime attack, Syrian opposition activists said Monday. A Syrian security official said Israeli jets staged the airstrikes, but denied there were any casualties.

The attack comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East and the crisis between Iran and the U.S. in the wake of the collapsing nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Cairo is supporting efforts to remove Sudan from Washington's blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a key factor hindering the African country's economic revival.

The United States' efforts to create a buffer zone in northern Syria have so far been "cosmetic", Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday, as he accused Washington of stalling.

Rwanda agreed Tuesday to take in hundreds and potentially thousands of African migrants stranded in Libya, a deal the African Union hopes to replicate with other member states. 

Shiite Muslims around the world are observing Ashoura, one of the most sacred religious holy days for their sect.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon are marking the day with rallies, prayers and self-flagellation.