Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with Israeli and Qatari officials as the Trump administration works to secure a deal to end the war in Gaza.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists waved flags and unfurled banners on Wednesday as the Tour de France peloton rode through Dieulefit, a southeastern French town honoured as a "Town of the Just" for sheltering Jewish people during World War Two.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

The Middle East has been transformed since 7 October, and almost two years on, the conflict in Gaza is at another inflection point.

The foreign ministers of 25 Western nations have slammed Israel for “drip feeding” aid into the Gaza Strip, as the health ministry in the territory said that more than 1,000 people have been killed seeking humanitarian relief there since late May.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog visited the Gaza strip on Wednesday and told soldiers that there were "intensive negotiations" about returning the hostages in Gaza, adding that he hopes that they will soon "hear good news",

A UK-based Gaza analyst said Tuesday that EU countries' latest condemnation of Israel's action in Gaza is "long overdue" but a "good step in the right direction."

The UN agency says Israel's ground offensive in Deir al-Balah has compromised its efforts to continue working.