Israel's far-right finance minister announced approval of contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday, which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts.

The announcement comes as many countries, including Australia, Britain, France, and Canada said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September.

More than 100 nonprofit groups warned Thursday that Israel's rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace independent organizations with those that serve Israel's political and military agenda — charges that Israel denied.

At the same time, hospital officials reported more deaths from Israeli airstrikes and an increasing toll from malnutrition. The mounting backlash over aid restrictions and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been cited by several countries as a factor in their moves toward recognizing Palestinian statehood.

A U.N. commission investigating sectarian bloodshed in Syria's Alawite heartland documented systematic violence at the hands of government forces and their allies, warning some of the acts could constitute war crimes, a report said Thursday.

The commission said it documented cases of "murder, torture and inhumane acts related to the treatment of the dead, widespread looting and burning of homes", leading to the mass displacement of civilians. "The violations included acts that likely amount to war crimes," it said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to help with Iran's water crisis.

Pezeshkian said Wednesday on X that Israel has denied Palestinians access to water and food, so can't be trusted.

Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas.

Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to The Associated Press. It's unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights concerns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hinted that ceasefire efforts in Gaza are now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages all at once, rather than in phases.

Arab officials told The Associated Press last week that mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new framework for a deal that would include the release of all remaining hostages in one go in return for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will "allow" Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

Netanyahu wants to realize U.S. President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population of over 2 million people through what he refers to as "voluntary migration" — and what critics have warned could be ethnic cleansing.

Israel and Kurdish fighters should stop threatening the security and stability of Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Fidan accused Israel and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, of undermining the country's efforts to reestablish itself after more than a decade of civil war.

A Hamas official said Wednesday that Israeli forces were making "aggressive" incursions into Gaza City, after the military approved the framework for a new offensive in the territory.

"The Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City," Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it had approved the "framework" for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City.