More than a year after his son was killed by Israeli forces under disputed circumstances in the occupied West Bank, Mustafa Erekat is still seeking his remains.

It is one of dozens of cases in which Israel is holding the remains of Palestinians killed in conflict, citing the need to deter attacks and potentially exchange them for the remains of two Israeli soldiers held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A court in Saudi Arabia upheld a 20-year prison term imposed on a Saudi aid worker who had criticized the government on Twitter, drawing a rare public rebuke from the U.S. in another sign of tension between the Biden administration and the kingdom.

The ruling, confirmed late Wednesday, also upheld a 20-year travel ban on Abdulrahman al-Sadhan after his release.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians lined up outside chambers of commerce across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hoping to get permits to work inside Israel after rumors circulated that more would be issued to residents of the Hamas-ruled territory.

Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinian residents have lived under a crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007, and jobs are scarce. Israel says the closures are needed to contain the militant group, while critics view it as a form of collective punishment.

Qatar's foreign minister arrived in Abu Dhabi and met Wednesday with its crown prince, the clearest sign so far that relations between the two Gulf Arab states are easing following a lengthy embargo that strained ties and echoed across the region.

The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at al-Bahr Palace in Abu Dhabi. The brief report said only that the two "discussed the strong ties between their countries and ways to enhance them to serve the interests of their nations."

The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, hacked the phones of his ex-wife Princess Haya and her attorneys during the legal battle over custody of their two children, Britain's High Court found Wednesday.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, gave his "express or implied authority" to hack the phones of the princess and her attorneys using Pegasus spyware produced by NSO Group of Israel, the court said. The software is licensed exclusively to nation states for use by their security services.

Dozens of Jewish settlers swept down from the dusty hills, hurling rocks at a small Palestinian village in broad daylight, smashing windows, cars and water cisterns as families hid inside their homes and Israeli soldiers looked on.

Palestinians in this rural part of the occupied West Bank say last week's attack was especially violent but not unusual. They view it as part of a much larger effort by Israel to force them off their land, including by cutting off vital water resources in a parched region.

At least 17 bodies, likely of Europe-bound migrants, have washed ashore in western Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent said.

They were found Tuesday near the western Libyan town of Zawiya, the Red Crescent's branch in the town said. The bodies were handed over to authorities for burial, it said.

Blinking under the garish lights of a hotel ballroom in southern Iraq, Wael Makhsusi argued his case to a young audience.

Microphone in hand, the engineer in his 30s stood onstage in Basra with other novice candidates in Sunday's parliamentary election. Among them were independents and hopefuls drawn from the protests that filled the streets two years ago with demonstrators angry about high unemployment, government corruption and lack of basic services like electricity and water.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen met Tuesday with the prime minister of the country's internationally recognized government in the port city of Aden, officials said.

Hans Grundberg landed in Aden in his first visit to the war-scarred country since taking up his post last month, according to the U.N. mission in Yemen.

Libyan lawmakers voted Tuesday to reschedule parliament elections, a spokesman said, a move likely to increase tensions among Libyan rivals already divided over bills regulating planned elections.

Abdullah Bliheg, a spokesman for the legislature, said lawmakers decided to hold parliamentary elections a month after the presidential vote scheduled for late December.