Mena Today

Tens of thousands of Palestinians began moving along the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday as Israel opened roadblocks after the militant group Hamas agreed to hand over female Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud and two other hostages.

Turkey's foreign policy under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to assert itself as a key player in the Middle East, with its latest diplomatic overture aimed at intensifying efforts to combat the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). 

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was on track to extend his 31-year rule with 87.6% of the vote in a presidential election on Sunday, according to an exit poll broadcast on state TV, after hurling defiance at the West and defending the jailing of dissidents.

Israeli forces killed 22 people in south Lebanon on Sunday as a deadline for their withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders, Lebanese authorities said.

Iran said it had arrested 13 adherents of the banned Baha’i faith accusing them of proselytising to children and adolescents, local media reported, drawing condemnation from an international organisation representing Baha'is.

U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, shattered by 15 months of war, is seen raising concerns among the enclave's inhabitants as well as its neighbours.

Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

Turkey has arrested 15 people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 78 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains earlier this week, state media reported on Sunday.

Baghdad hosted a high-level meeting on Sunday as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, to discuss bilateral relations and regional security issues. 

The United Nation's Palestinian refugee agency said on Sunday it had been ordered by Israel to vacate premises and cease all of its operations in East Jerusalem by Thursday.

Malawi and Uruguay said four of their troops were killed in clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo against Rwandan-backed rebels, bringing the death toll among United Nations and southern African peacekeepers to at least 13 by Sunday.