Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election win as final results confirmed the former premier's triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance.

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem yesterday, the Palestinian health ministry said, including an Islamic Jihad militant and a man accused by police of stabbing an officer.

Iranians yesterday staged new protest actions in defiance of a crackdown by the authorities as a rights group said an 18-year-old became the latest teen killed

The Palestinian health ministry identified the dead man as Habas Rayan, 54.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to return to power in one of the most right-wing coalitions in Israel’s history, causing jitters

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared well placed to return to power as exit polls following Tuesday's election showed his right-wing bloc heading for a narrow majority lifted by a strong showing from his far-right allies.

Israelis were voting yesterday in their fifth election in less than four years, with former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu campaigning for a comeback with help from the rising extreme-right.

Iran's hardline judiciary will hold public trials of about 1,000 people indicted over unrest in Tehran, a semi-official news agency said on Monday, intensifying efforts to crush weeks of protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in police custody.

A Palestinian gunman killed one person and wounded at least three others in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by a guard, the Israeli military, medics and a settlement spokesperson said.

Two Palestinians were killed yesterday by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians on Friday, Palestinian sources said, in what the Israeli military said was a response to a shooting at soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government on Thursday ending over a year of deadlock, but still faces many challenges.

Israeli and Lebanese leaders signed a landmark US-brokered agreement on their maritime boundary yesterday, marking a diplomatic departure from decades

Iran’s president yesterday claimed “riots” sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death paved the way for “terrorist” attacks, a day after a gunman killed at least 15 people at a Muslim shrine.

The militant group Islamic State said it carried out an attack on a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Iran on Wednesday which killed 15 people, escalating tensions in a country reeling from a wave of protests and prompting warnings of a response from Tehran.

Iranian security forces yesterday opened fire on protesters who massed in their thousands in Mahsa Amini’s hometown to mark 40 days since her death, a human rights group said.

Iranian security forces opened fire at mourners who gathered in Mahsa Amini's Kurdish home town of Saqez to mark 40 days since she died in police custody, a witness said on Wednesday, while state media said people at the cemetery had clashed with riot police.

Iranian students yesterday protested at multiple universities, defying a bloody crackdown as tensions mount on the eve of planned ceremonies marking 40 days since Mahsa Amini’s death.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday accused the United States of “dragging their feet” instead of making a decision to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

An Iranian man nicknamed the “dirtiest man in the world” for not taking a shower for decades has died at the age of 94, state media reported yesterday.