BEIRUT: Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed ceasefire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components.

Israeli restrictions prevented thousands of Palestinians from holding Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, with officials saying only 13,000 of the faithful could enter the mosque’s compound.

Iran has once again denounced a “bitter” move by certain Western countries in suspending the funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main lifeline for the Palestinian refugees.

The United Nations has warned that Rafah, a city declared a “safe zone” by Israel in southern Gaza, has turned into a “pressure cooker of despair” after the regime threatened it could be the next target of its military forces.

Yemen’s Armed Forces have carried out a ballistic missile strike against the city of Eilat in the southern part of the occupied Palestinian territories in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who are enduring a genocidal Israeli war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, has asserted that the key to restoring stability in the…