Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appealed to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday for more air raids from Western warplanes and more arms to take on the Islamic State group.

"Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more ... heavy weaponry. We need that," Abadi told Hagel at the start of their talks in the Iraqi capital.

More than 50 Syrian and international rights organisations made a joint appeal Tuesday for the release of four Syrian activists abducted near Damascus a year ago.

Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, Samira Khalil and Nazem al-Hamadi were detained in the rebel-held area of Douma on December 9, 2013.

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for twin suicide car bomb attacks Tuesday that killed seven soldiers in Yemen, as fresh violence shook the increasingly unstable country where rival militias are battling for control.

The attacks targeted an army headquarters in Yemen's southeast, a stronghold of Al-Qaida where two hostages -- an American photojournalist and a South African teacher -- were killed by militants during a failed rescue attempt on Saturday.

The Israeli military committed war crimes during its Gaza offensive this summer and must be investigated, human rights monitor Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The destruction of four multi-story buildings during the last four days of the 50-day war were in breach of international humanitarian law, the group said in a report.

Israel's parliament on Monday passed into law a bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration after judges quashed two earlier laws as repressive.

The new act determines that anyone entering Israel illegally can be held in Saharonim detention center for up to three months, after which he or she will be moved to another detention facility called Holot for a period of up to 20 months. Both facilities are deep in southern Israel's Negev desert.

Lawmakers in the Israeli parliament on Monday voted to dissolve the assembly and confirmed March 17 as the date for a snap general election.

At the end of a televised debate, members in the Knesset voted 93-0 in favour of a dissolution bill sponsored by opposition parties.

Members of a U.S.-led coalition are ready to send roughly 1,500 security personnel to Iraq to help the Baghdad government in its fight against Islamic State group, the American commander of the war effort said Monday.

Coalition partners meeting last week in the region made initial pledges that would bring "close" to 1,500 troops to Iraq to train and assist local forces, in addition to the U.S. forces already mobilized, Lieutenant General James Terry told reporters in Kuwait.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday said corruption was no lesser threat than terrorism and pledged to combat it even if that puts his life at risk.

Abadi took over at the helm of Iraq in September following an acrimonious process that saw his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki reluctantly step down after two terms.

U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura met on Monday with Syrian opposition members to discuss his plan to "freeze" fighting in the country's war-ravaged second city Aleppo, his spokeswoman said.

"The talks started today at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and lasted for eight hours with representatives from the main armed and non-armed groups," Juliette Touma told Agence France-Presse.

A delegation of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza arrived Monday for talks with Iranian officials on repairing ties, local media reported.

Tasnim news agency said the team was led by Hamas political bureau member Mohammed Nasr and included Ossama Hamdan, who is in charge of international relations.