US President Donald Trump on Monday announced he had ended a program to support rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because it was "massive, dangerous, and wasteful."

The comments came days after General Tony Thomas, the head of US special operations confirmed that the four-year-old operation was brought to a close but denied the decision was motivated by a desire to placate Russia, which backs the Assad regime.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove new security measures at an ultra-sensitive Jerusalem holy site.

A crisis over new Israeli security measures at a Jerusalem holy site must be resolved by Friday to avoid an escalation of violence, the U.N. envoy to the Middle East said Monday.

"It is extremely important that a solution to the current crisis be found by Friday this week," said Nickolay Mladenov after briefing the U.N. Security Council.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, named heir to the region's most powerful throne last month, took temporary charge of the country Monday as the king left on holiday.

A high-level U.N. delegation arrived in Yemen on Monday, a U.N. source said, to visit areas held by both the government and Huthi rebels across the crisis-hit country.

Israel is working to calm the situation in Jerusalem following a flare-up of violence, but it will do whatever is necessary to maintain security at a holy site, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.

"We will enable everybody to come and pray on the Temple Mount, but at the same time we will do whatever is necessary to maintain security," Ambassador Danny Danon told journalists ahead of a Security Council meeting to discuss ways to de-escalate tensions.

Russia has deployed military police to monitor two safe zones being established in Syria, the defense ministry in Moscow said Monday.

In the wake of victory against the Islamic State group in Mosul, Iraq's political, religious and military leaders are debating the future of the country's powerful Shiite militias — the tens of thousands of men who answered a religious call to arms three years ago and played a critical role in beating back the extremists.

Some are demanding the mostly Iranian-backed forces be disbanded but the militias say their sacrifices on the battlefield and the fact they were sanctioned by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi have earned them a permanent place in the hierarchy of Iraq's security forces.

Jordan said Monday it was looking to question an Israeli security guard who killed two Jordanians at the Amman embassy compound, as Israel insisted he had diplomatic immunity.

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli in the neck at a fast food restaurant near the commercial capital of Tel Aviv on Monday before being arrested, police said.