Israel's defense minister on Monday announced a series of gestures aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority, including plans to loan $150 million to the cash-strapped autonomy government in the occupied West Bank.

The announcement came a day after Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years.

Syrian government forces shelled rebel-held parts of a volatile southern city Monday killing at least one person, while insurgents killed four soldiers after Russia-brokered talks to end the presence of opposition fighters in the area collapsed.

Syria's state media reported that government forces retaliated against fire by opposition fighters inside the city of Daraa and that attacks on army checkpoints in the city left four soldiers dead and 15 wounded. It said several civilians were wounded in insurgent shelling of government-held parts of Daraa.

Syria's longest river used to flow by his olive grove, but today Khaled al-Khamees says it has receded into the distance, parching his trees and leaving his family with hardly a drop to drink.

"It's as if we were in the desert," said the 50-year-old farmer, standing on what last year was the Euphrates riverbed.

A German woman was arrested Monday on suspicion of helping the Islamic State group by backing efforts to transfer money to militants, prosecutors said.

The suspect, identified only as Denise S., was arrested in Geretsried, near Munich and faces possible charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization. She is accused of supporting Aymen A.-J., an Iraqi man who was arrested in Germany earlier this year.

A missile and drone attack on a key military base in Yemen's south on Sunday killed at least 30 troops, a Yemeni military spokesman said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the country's civil war in recent years.

Mohammed al-Naqib, spokesman for Yemen's southern forces, told The Associated Press the attack on Al-Anad Air Base in the province of Lahj wounded at least 65. He said the casualty toll could rise since rescue teams were still clearing the site.

Qatar played an outsized role in U.S. efforts to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan. Now the tiny Gulf Arab state is being asked to help shape what is next for Afghanistan because of its ties with both Washington and the Taliban, who are in charge in Kabul.

Qatar will be among global heavyweights on Monday when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts a virtual meeting to discuss a coordinated approach for the days ahead, as the U.S. completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country. The meeting will also include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Turkey, the European Union and NATO.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered Sunday night along the separation fence with Israel, setting tires on fire and throwing explosives as Gaza's Hamas rulers pressed ahead with a campaign aimed at pressuring Israel to ease a stifling blockade of the territory. One protester was moderately wounded by Israeli gunfire.

It was the second consecutive nighttime border protest and took place hours after Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on alleged Hamas targets in response to the unrest. Hamas officials have promised to hold nightly protests all week.

Iran and Syria vowed on Sunday to take "mighty steps" to confront U.S. sanctions imposed on the two regional allies, saying their relations will strengthen under Iran's new leadership.

The announcement was made by Iran's new Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was received at the airport a visit to Damascus by his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad.

Israel's defense minister has held talks with the Palestinian president in Ramallah, the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years, officials said.

Sunday's meeting between Benny Gantz and Mahmoud Abbas signaled a possible shift of direction after after the near-complete breakdown of communication between Abbas and Israeli leaders in recent years.

French President Emmanuel Macron was to pay a visit Sunday to the Islamic State group's former Iraqi stronghold Mosul, a day after vowing to keep troops in the country.