Israel imposed additional restrictions as the first vaccines made by US biotech company Moderna arrived in the country. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called on all Israelis to abide by the tougher measures, hours after Health Minister Yuli Edelstein admitted that few had complied with the third lockdown, which began two weeks ago.

Qatar’s ruling emir arrived in Saudi Arabia and was greeted with an embrace by its crown prince on Tuesday, following an announcement that the kingdom would end its yearslong embargo on the tiny Gulf Arab state.

Saudi Arabia agreed to reopen the air, sea and land borders with Qatar starting on Monday evening, Kuwait's foreign minister announced, in a sign that a years-long Gulf row is coming to an end. The announcement, carried by Kuwait's official news agency KUNA, comes hours before a planned Gulf leaders' summit on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, news wires reported.

A car bomb exploded in a vegetable market in the northeastern Syrian town of Ras al Ain close to the border with Turkey, with reports of several killed and wounded, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

Iran said Saturday it plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at its underground Fordo nuclear facility “as soon as possible,” pushing its program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the tattered atomic deal.

At least 13 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a deadly assault on Aden airport on Wednesday just a few moments after a plane carrying members of  newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen landed safely.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry on Monday extended a ban on entry to the kingdom by air, land and sea for another week amid concerns over a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus, the state news agency SPA reported.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and invited him to visit Israel, news wires reported. The two leaders spoke about moving forward with a US-brokered agreement announced earlier this month to normalize bilateral ties, according to the Israeli government’s statement.

The Israeli Parliament dissolved itself at midnight Tuesday, after PM Benjamin Netanyahu's fractured ruling coalition failed to pass a budget, triggering a fourth election in two years, news wires reported.

A US-Israeli delegation flight to Morocco took off on Tuesday, less than two weeks after Morocco joined a growing list of Arab countries to begin normalizing relations with Israel, dpa reported.