Reuters World News Summary

Whether he was reporting on the war against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or gunbattles on the streets in his native Lebanon, Abdallah excelled at telling the stories of people living through catastrophe, his colleagues recalled after his death on Friday. Lebanon army blames Israel for journalist's killing; Reuters urges Israeli probe The Lebanese army said on Saturday that Israel had fired a missile that killed a Reuters journalist in southern Lebanon, with a Lebanese military source saying the country had conducted a technical on-the-ground assessment after the attack that supported its claim.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Biden holds calls with Israel's Netanyahu, Palestinians' Abbas

U.S. President Joe Biden stressed continued U.S. support for Israel as well as the need for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in calls on Saturday with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the White House said. In his first call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas since Hamas' attack on Israel a week ago, Biden offered Abbas his full support for "urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian people, especially in Gaza."

No letup in Russian strikes on Ukrainian town of Avdiivka

Russia's military pressed on with fierce assaults on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on Saturday, with shelling so fierce that emergency crews were unable to recover the dead from wrecked buildings, the town's top administrative official said. It was the fifth straight day of assaults on the town in Ukraine's industrial heartland of Donbas, focal point of Moscow's 19-month-old invasion of its neighbour.

Israel prepares ground assault on Gaza as Palestinians flee

Israel was preparing on Saturday to launch a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, after telling Palestinians living in the densely populated territory to flee south towards a closed border with Egypt. The Israeli national security adviser meanwhile warned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah not to start a war on a second front, threatening the "destruction of Lebanon" if it did.

US advises its citizens in Gaza to move closer to Egypt's Rafah crossing

The U.S. government on Saturday advised its citizens in Gaza to move south toward the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be ready for its possible reopening after a Hamas attack in Israel drew Israeli military retaliation in the densely populated coastal enclave. Washington worked with Egypt, Israel and Qatar to try to open the Rafah crossing for limited hours on Saturday afternoon to allow Palestinian-Americans to leave, a senior State Department official told reporters travelling with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Reuters' Issam Abdallah covered world's biggest events with bravery and insight

Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, who was killed on Friday while filming Israeli missile attacks at the Israeli-Lebanon border, brought courage, compassion and insight to his work covering some of the biggest news stories of the past decade. Whether he was reporting on the war against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or gunbattles on the streets in his native Lebanon, Abdallah excelled at telling the stories of people living through catastrophe, his colleagues recalled after his death on Friday.

Lebanon army blames Israel for journalist's killing; Reuters urges Israeli probe

The Lebanese army said on Saturday that Israel had fired a missile that killed a Reuters journalist in southern Lebanon, with a Lebanese military source saying the country had conducted a technical on-the-ground assessment after the attack that supported its claim. The Lebanese military source also said the army had concluded the shell was fired by Israel based on observation by Lebanese army patrols in the area at the time of the incident. The source was not authorised to speak to media and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Palestinians haunted by 'Nakba' while bracing for Gaza offensive

When Israel told residents of Gaza to leave their homes in the densely populated Palestinian enclave ahead of an expected ground offensive, Fawziya Shaheen, 90, recalled a dark chapter that is seared into the consciousness of Palestinians. The idea of leaving or being driven out of land on which they want to forge a state carries echoes of the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", when many Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.

Israeli attack on Syrian Aleppo airport puts it out of service

Israel has launched an air strike against Syria's Aleppo Airport late on Saturday that put it out of service, the Syrian defence ministry said. "The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service," the ministry added.

New Zealand PM-elect Luxon, National leaders to start planning coalition government talks

Senior members of New Zealand's centre-right National Party will meet Sunday afternoon to plan forming a coalition government after National and the ACT Party won a slim majority in Saturday's general election that could be eroded when official votes are in. Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon, 53, a former airline executive who has only been in parliament for three years, said National's strategy team would gather this afternoon to map out how the party wants to approach negotiations but that he was clear that these talks would happen behind closed doors.

Israel and Hamas at war: Latest news

Thousands of Palestinians fled the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel said it kept two roads open to let people escape. The Israeli military said its forces were preparing to implement a range of operational offensive plans "with an emphasis on significant ground operations".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)