US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington wanted to see a ceasefire deal in Gaza concluded and the hostages brought out in the next two weeks.
A renewed push is under way to reach a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and return Israeli hostages before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
"We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining," Blinken told a press conference in South Korea, when asked whether a ceasefire deal was close.
Blinken also said a North Korean missile test carried out during his visit to Seoul on Monday was a reminder of the need to deepen Washington's cooperation with South Korea and Japan to deter an emboldened Pyongyang.
North Korea fired what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which flew more than 1,100 kilometres (690 miles) east before falling into the sea, according to South Korea's military.
Speaking a few hours later, Blinken told a news conference the launch underscored the importance of collaboration between the US, South Korea and Japan, including on sharing real-time missile data and holding trilateral military exercises.
U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.
Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring 35 in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional officials said.
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