U.S. President Barack Obama strolled among the ancient Jordanian ruins at Petra on Saturday, on the final leg of a four-day Middle East tour dominated by his embrace of Israel.

Obama flew by helicopter to view the rose-colored stone ruins of the ancient Nabataean city, after winds from a sandstorm abated and allowed him to make the 55-minute trip across the plains and mountains of Jordan.

The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top U.S. official said Friday.

The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after U.S. President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that Iran's leader should spend more time working to improve the lot of his people than firing off warnings that he will annihilate Israeli cities.

Obama, in Jordan on the latest stop of a Middle East tour, sought to avoid getting into a war of words with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but said Iran could transform its future if it stood down its nuclear program.

President Barack Obama arrived in Jordan on Friday to face scrutiny over his Syria strategy, on the last leg of a Middle East tour after visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The U.S. presidential aircraft landed in Queen Alia Airport near Amman at 1445 GMT, and he was welcomed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and other top officials.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday apologized to Turkey for a deadly 2010 flotilla raid and announced a full resumption of diplomatic ties as well as compensation for the families of those killed, his office said.

The breakthrough, which ends a nearly three-year bitter diplomatic rift, was engineered by U.S. President Barack Obama at the tail end of a historic three-day visit to the Holy Land, the first of his presidency.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday visited Bethlehem's Nativity Church built on the site where tradition says Jesus was born, at the end of a three-day trip to Israel and the West Bank.

The visit took place later than expected because of an unexpected sandstorm which forced the president to travel by motorcade from Jerusalem rather than by helicopter as planned.

Hizbullah slammed on Friday U.S. President Barack Obama's “appeasement” speech in Israel, considering that his remarks are to “satisfy” the Jewish state.

“Obama's speech is similar to all the hostile and boring stances made by the U.S.,” Hizbullah said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded that foreign governments brand Hizbullah a "terrorist organization," slamming the party for “its attacks on Israelis”.

"Every country that values justice should call Hizbullah what it truly is -- a terrorist organization," Obama said in a major speech in Israel, in remarks apparently aimed at the European Union which has declined to put the group on a list of terrorist movements.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on Thursday slammed violence against civilians, including Gaza rocket fire after two projectiles hit Israel as U.S. President Barack Obama visits.

"We condemn violence against civilians, whatever its source, including the firing of rockets," political adviser Nimr Hammad quoted Abbas as saying.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Israelis and Palestinians to get back to peace talks but offered no new ideas on how they might do so, essentially abandoning his previous support of the Palestinian demand for Israel to halt settlement activity before negotiations resume.

In remarks likely to disappoint, if not infuriate, the Palestinians, Obama said the United States continues to oppose the construction of Jewish housing on land claimed by the Palestinians but stressed that issues of disagreement between the two sides should not be used as an "excuse" to do nothing. He said there would be no point to negotiations if differences had to be resolved before they start.