Territorial Disputes

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis say they have fired missiles at two more vessels in the Red Sea, causing damage to the ships.

The development towards a new halt in fighting comes as Israel's evacuation orders now cover two-thirds of Gaza, according to a UN monitor. 

The Israel-Gaza war has spilled over in Lebanon, Jordan and the Red Sea, fuelling fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Let's take a look at the key players and how the conflict is escalating.

US President Joe Biden imposes sanctions on four Israeli men accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank, signalling growing US displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Fears of regional escalation are growing as the Israel-Gaza war drags on, with data showing political violence has increased across the Middle East. These are the four main hotspots.

Hamas said the proposed deal would see the group first release men, children, the elderly and wounded while humanitarian delivery would resume in Gaza. 

Israel's army identified the main target of the hospital raid as a member of the Islamist militant movement, with the other two being from a local group of gunmen.

The strikes targeted an underground storage site, missiles and other military capabilities.

Israeli forces have stormed a hospital and placed another under siege in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, as families of the Israeli hostages storm a parliamentary committee. 

The grim milestone came as the UN secretary-general condemned Israeli forces for the extent of civilian deaths, and Israel's cabinet approved a plan for tax funds earmarked for the Gaza Strip to be held by Norway.

A series of reported strikes in Syrian capital Damascus killed five members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to the group. 

Both Middle Eastern nations have signalled a desire to cool tensions, after tit-for-tat strikes that saw 11 people killed between the two states. 

The Labor backbencher's comments come after Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls to scale back Israel's military assault in Gaza or take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Benjamin Netanyahu rebukes a push to scale back his country's offensive in Gaza, or to help establish a Palestinian state after the war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country will no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea, calling for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries, according to state media.

An Irish Catholic priest played an important — but largely secret — role in the conflict over Northern Ireland.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards says it hit a headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

The Australian government says it "respects" the decision taken by Nauru to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognise China instead.

The Lebanese armed group attacks Israeli border posts and an army headquarters in retaliation for the recent killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah officials, while Israel says intense fighting will continue in southern Gaza. 

The Taiwanese defence ministry mistranslated an alert into English, saying China had launched a missile instead of a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections.

Myanmar's military government cedes control of the capital of the self-administered Kokang region in the country's north-east, the most significant defeat for the junta since an alliance of three ethnic-based rebel armies launched an offensive on October 27. 

It comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his tour of the Middle East, seeking to kickstart concerted peace efforts he says are necessary to prevent the violence from spreading to the wider region.

Three months on from the conflict, Western diplomats are trying to prevent the war from spreading, despite Israel continuing with its military campaign.

South Korea says North Korea has conducted artillery drills along their sea boundary in violation of a 2018 military agreement.

Several Ukrainian cities have been pounded with shelling as Russian President Vladimir Putin promises to avenge a New Year's Eve attack which saw 24 Russian civilians killed.