GAZA -- At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian sources said.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of civilians waiting for food near a U.S.-backed aid distribution center, north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Gaza Strip-Hamas-Israel)

- - - -

TEHRAN -- Iran has postponed the full reopening of its airspace until Saturday afternoon, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The decision was made to ensure the safety and security of passengers and flights and in view of the reopening of the country's eastern airspace to domestic and international flights, the IRNA quoted Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development Majid Akhavan as saying. (Iran-Airspace-Reopening)

- - - -

CAIRO -- At least 18 people were killed, and four others injured on Friday when a lorry crashed with a microbus on a highway in Egypt's northern Menoufia Governorate, according to local media.

The Dostor news website quoted a medical source as saying that the victims aged from five to 18, most of whom come from the village of Kafr Sanabisah. (Egypt-Road Accident-Death Toll)

- - - -

BEIRUT -- One person was killed and several others were injured on Friday following a series of intense Israeli airstrikes that targeted wide areas in southern Lebanon, according to official and security sources.

A statement from Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center confirmed that an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the southern city of Nabatieh killed a woman and injured 11 others. (Lebanon-Israel-Airstrike) Enditem