Ties between Palestinian rivals Fatah, a secular party, and the Islamist Hamas have been tense for a decade, at times erupting into deadly conflict.

The Islamic State group has lost swathes of territory in its self-declared "caliphate" in recent months, including its former Iraqi hub Mosul and most of its Syrian bastion Raqa.

It is under attack in its remaining enclaves in Iraq and is facing parallel Russian- and US-backed offensives in Syria. Here are the main battlefronts:

A Palestinian gunman opened fire at an entrance to the Israeli settlement of Har Adar in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing three security personnel and wounding another.

Here are some key questions and answers on Israeli settlements:

U.S.-led forces invaded Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003 after claims it was harboring weapons of mass destruction.

When Hamas announced this week it would accept demands from rivals Fatah in a bid for Palestinian reconciliation, it was the latest in months of shifts from the Islamist group.

The Islamic State group has lost swathes of territory in its self-declared "caliphate" in recent months, including its former Iraqi hub Mosul and most of its Syrian bastion Raqa.

Iraqi Kurds may have long dreamed of founding their own state, but the independence referendum set for September 25 has also exposed divisions between their autonomous region's main cities.

A photo montage published by al-Qaida to mark the 16th anniversary of 9/11 shows the face of Osama bin Laden in the flames of the Twin Towers.

An Iraqi Kurdish plan to hold a September 25 independence referendum, which has hit a legal roadblock with just a week to go, is more of a tool to pressure Baghdad than a step towards actual secession, observers say.

Iraq's Kurdish region, which will hold a referendum on statehood on September 25, has been autonomous since 1991 and has played a major role in the war against jihadists.