Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

The German government said Wednesday it "rejects the escalation" of Israel's campaign in Gaza after Israel approved a plan to conquer Gaza City and authorized calling up around 60,000 reservists.

Germany finds it "increasingly difficult to understand how these actions will lead to the freeing of all the hostages, or to a ceasefire," government spokesman Steffen Meyer told reporters.

Iran said Wednesday it was prepared for any new Israeli attack, announcing it has developed missiles with greater capabilities than those used during their recent 12-day war.

"The missiles used in the 12-day war were manufactured... a few years ago," Defense Minister Aziz Nassirzadeh said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Israel's defense minister has approved a plan for the conquest of Gaza City and authorized the call-up of around 60,000 reservists to carry it out, his ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson, piled pressure on Hamas as mediators pushing for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza awaited an official Israeli response on their latest proposal.

Syria's foreign minister held a rare direct meeting with an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday, talks that were brokered by the United States as part of a diplomatic push for Syria and Israel to normalize relations despite a recent surge in tensions between them.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with Israeli officials to discuss de-escalating tensions and restoring a 1974 ceasefire agreement — a deal that established a demilitarized separation zone between Israeli and Syrian forces and stationed a U.N. peacekeeping force to maintain calm.

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government demanded the release of all remaining hostages in any future Gaza deal, a day after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal.

Mediator Qatar said on Tuesday that a Gaza truce proposal given the green light by militant group Hamas was "almost identical" to an earlier version that Israel had agreed to.

Hamas gave a "very positive response, and it truly was almost identical to what the Israeli side had previously agreed to", Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters, without elaborating on what changes had been made to the accepted proposal.

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signaled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war.

The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire.

After setting off from Cyprus, a ship loaded with 1,200 tons of food supplies for the Gaza Strip was approaching the Israeli port of Ashdod on Tuesday in a renewed effort to alleviate the worsening crisis as famine threatens the Palestinian territory.

The Panamanian-flagged vessel is loaded with 52 containers carrying food aid such as pasta, rice, baby food and canned goods. Israeli customs officials had screened the aid at the Cypriot port of Limassol from where the ship departed on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese as a "weak politician" on Tuesday, amid an ongoing row between the two countries after Canberra declared it would recognize a Palestinian state.

"History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews," read a post on the official X account of Netanyahu's office.