The Israeli military on Monday issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation in the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip.

Israel ended its ceasefire with the Hamas militant group and renewed its air and ground war earlier this month. At the beginning of March it cut off all supplies of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the truce agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's intensified military pressure on Hamas in Gaza has been effective, stressing the Palestinian group must lay down its arms.

"We are negotiating under fire... We can see cracks beginning to appear" in what the group demanded in its negotiations, Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced a new transitional government dominated by close allies and including one woman, replacing caretaker authorities in place since the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

A top Hamas official said the group approved a new Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by mediators, urging Israel to back it but warning the Iran-backed group's weapons were a "red line".

The U.S. embassy in Syria has warned its citizens of an "increased possibility" of attacks during the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the coming days.

"The U.S. Department of State cautions U.S. citizens of the increased possibility of attacks during Eid al-Fitr holiday, which could target embassies, international organizations, and Syrian public institutions in Damascus," said a statement posted on the embassy website late Friday.

A senior Hamas official said Friday that talks between the Palestinian Islamist movement and mediators over a ceasefire deal are gaining momentum as Israel continues intensive operations in Gaza.

"We hope that the coming days will bring a real breakthrough in the war situation, following intensified communications with and between mediators in recent days," Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said in a statement.

Six people died on Thursday, two of them minors, when a tourist submarine carrying dozens of Russian visitors sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast near a major resort town.

The Iran-backed Houthis said Thursday they targeted an Israeli airport and army site as well as a U.S. warship, soon after Israel reported intercepting missiles launched from Yemen.

Israel's parliament on Thursday passed a law expanding the power of politicians over judge appointments in defiance of a years-long protest movement against the judicial reforms pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The approval came with Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, locked in a standoff with the supreme court after the premier began proceedings to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and announced the sacking of Ronen Bar, head of the internal security agency.

An Egyptian security delegation was in Doha on Thursday for talks aimed at reviving a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian state-linked media reported.

The delegation aimed to "secure the release of prisoners and hostages as part of a transitional phase" that is hoped to pave the way to a more permanent end to fighting, according to Al-Qahera News.