Journalist Ahmed Hassan, targeted in an assassination attempt Monday in southern Iraq, has undergone brain surgery and remains in critical condition, a Baghdad hospital said.

Iran's foreign ministry Monday for the first time confirmed the Islamic republic is holding talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia, but said it is "too soon" to discuss the results.

Turkey on Monday called Israel an "apartheid state" that must end "heinous and cruel attacks" against Palestinians, as clashes raged at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said hundreds had been wounded in new clashes on Monday that came ahead of a planned march marking Israel's 1967 takeover of the holy city.

Hundreds were wounded in new clashes Monday between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem as a planned march marking Israel's 1967 takeover of the holy city threatened to further inflame tensions.

Egyptian authorities on Sunday executed a Coptic Christian monk convicted over the 2018 killing of the abbot of an ancient desert monastery, the monk's family told AFP.

A fire broke out Sunday on an oil tanker off northwest Syria's Banias refinery due to "technical failure" in one of its engines, state media reported.

"A technical failure in one of the engines of an oil tanker parked off the coast of the city of Banias led to a small fire and the appearance of black smoke," SANA news agency said.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to violence in annexed east Jerusalem, where clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police have left scores of Palestinians injured.

After delivering his Regina Caeli prayer from the window overlooking St Peter's Square, the pope said he was "following with particular concern the events that are happening in Jerusalem."

Israel vowed Sunday to restore order in Jerusalem after hundreds of Palestinian protesters were wounded in a weekend of clashes with Israeli security forces, while the justice ministry put off a key court ruling on a flashpoint property dispute.

Israel braced for more protests Saturday after clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound wounded more than 200 people and as the US, EU and regional powers urged calm after days of escalating violence.  

Saudi Arabia and longstanding ally Pakistan signed several agreements Saturday and vowed to reset ties strained by months of disagreement over policy on the Kashmir dispute.