Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election runoff between a reformist advocating improved ties with the West and an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator.

The election, called early after the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, followed a first round marked by a historically low turnout last week.

Israel said Friday that "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release but that it will send a delegation for fresh talks with Qatari mediators next week.

The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman came after a delegation led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, held a first round of talks with mediators in Doha on Friday.

"It was agreed that next week Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha to continue the talks. There are still gaps between the parties," the spokesman said in a statement.

Blindfolded, beaten and sometimes bitten by dogs, Gazans released from Israeli prisons allege being tortured amid the Israel-Hamas war, which rights groups say has worsened conditions for detainees.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, former director of Al-Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital, is the latest to report mistreatment by Israel.

Salmiya, one among dozens of detainees freed Monday, said "several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine."

Iranians voted on Friday in a presidential runoff election where the choice is between a reformist advocating improved ties with the West and an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator.

The election, called early after the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, follows a first round marked by a historically low voter turnout last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered his spy chief to Qatar for talks with mediators on a Gaza war ceasefire that could see Hamas militants release hostages seized in the October 7 attacks, sources said.

Amidst new optimism over a possible breakthrough, Netanyahu called a meeting of his security cabinet for late Thursday to discuss new Hamas proposals sent through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, reports said.

After almost 800 days in Iran's notorious Evin prison, the now-free Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus recalled the darkest moments throughout his imprisonment and how he survived them.

Released in mid-June, Floderus and another Swedish citizen were part of a prisoner exchange that saw a former prison official return to Iran.

When asked how he has been since gaining his freedom, Floderus smiled while choosing his words carefully.

"I'm doing well. My family has done everything to give me the sort of soft landing that I think I really needed upon my return," he told AFP.

Lebanon's Hezbollah launched more than 200 rockets and drones at Israeli army positions on Thursday, escalating tensions between the two adversaries as the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza.

After months of deadlock in Gaza ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send a delegation for talks aimed at securing the release of hostages seized in Hamas's October 7 attack, which sparked the war.

In a bustling Tehran prayer hall, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili has rallied fervent supporters ahead of Friday's runoff presidential vote, while his reformist rival Masoud Pezeshkian stirred up a crowd in a nearby stadium.

The two candidates held their final campaign rallies late Wednesday, after leading the first-round vote in snap elections to succeed president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a May helicopter crash.

The gunman who killed two people at Oslo's 2022 Pride festival was handed decades behind bars Thursday over the attack that the court said aimed to "instill fear in LGBTQ people".

Zaniar Matapour, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was found guilty of opening fire on June 25, 2022 outside two bars in central Oslo, including a famous gay club, just hours before the Pride Parade.

Nine other people were wounded.

The Hamas militant group said Wednesday it had sent new "ideas" to Qatari mediators aimed at ending the nearly nine-month Gaza war with Israel.

Israel confirmed that it was "evaluating" Hamas "comments" on a deal to free its hostages in the Palestinian territory and would reply.

With the death toll mounting and conditions worsening daily for Gazans, both sides are under increased international pressure to agree to a ceasefire -- more recently based on a roadmap pushed by US President Joe Biden.