Thousands flooded Iraq's southern hotspot of Nasiriyah on Monday as a resident died from wounds sustained in clashes last week between anti-government protesters and supporters of a controversial cleric.

Syria and Russia faced renewed pressure over allegations of chemical weapons use as member countries of the global toxic arms watchdog met on Monday.

They may be scarred, but nothing, not even torture, bombing or exile, could break them.

As the Arab Spring revolts swept through the Middle East and North Africa region like a wildfire, thousands of young Syrians joined protests in March 2011 demanding change in a nation ruled by the family of President Bashar al-Assad since 1970.

Social media and smartphones briefly gave youthful Arab Spring protesters a technological edge that helped topple ageing dictatorships a decade ago as their revolutionary spirit went viral.

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week in a bid for further diplomatic deals in the region before leaving the White House, according to media reports Sunday.

The visits would focus on resolving a dispute between Qatar and a Saudi-led alliance, the Wall Street Journal reported, but a number of issues could be on the agenda.

Questions mounted in Israel on Sunday following the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist, with experts speculating on whether Israeli agents were responsible, and if so, how Tehran might respond.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has blamed Israel for Friday's killing of 59-year-old Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, accusing it of acting as a U.S. "mercenary" and vowing revenge.

About 1,000 protesters gathered outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem on Saturday night, pressing ahead with their months-long campaign demanding his resignation.

A mix of grassroots groups have held the weekly protests, saying Netanyahu should step down while he is on trial for corruption and because of his handling of the coronavirus in Israel. After two lockdowns this year, the nation's economy is struggling, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain out of work. Many protesters are Israelis who have lost their jobs.

More than 120 Libyan deputies have pledged in Morocco to "end the divisions" that undermine their country, starting by convening the elected parliament as soon as they return home.

An opinion piece published by a hard-line Iranian newspaper on Sunday suggested Iran should attack the Israeli port city of Haifa if Israel carried out the killing of a scientist linked to its disbanded military nuclear program.

Though the hard-line Kayhan newspaper has long argued for aggressive retaliation for operations targeting Iran, Sunday's opinion piece went further, suggesting any assault be carried out in a way that destroys facilities and "also causes heavy human casualties."

Thirteen fighters were killed in an exchange of artillery fire between pro-government forces and separatists in the southern province of Abyan, military sources told AFP on Saturday.