U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon appealed Friday for more aid to help hundreds of thousands who have fled the Syrian conflict, as he visited a refugee camp in neighboring Jordan.

"I call on the international community and particularly the countries of the region to provide on (an) urgent basis humanitarian assistance," he said at the Zaatari camp in Jordan, which hosts more than 250,000 Syrians.

Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshaal made his first visit to Gaza on Friday, kissing the ground and saying he hoped he would one day die a "martyr" in the Palestinian territory.

After his seven-vehicle convoy swept across the border from Egypt, Meshaal got out and kissed Palestinian soil before embracing Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.

Syria's army sent reinforcements to a rebel town near Damascus as clashes raged south of the capital Friday, hours after talks on the conflict between the U.S., Russia and U.N. ended without a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was due to visit Syrian refugees in Turkey before meeting in Ankara with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, key backers of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed "deep concern" Thursday over the recent deadly political protests in Egypt, in a call to his counterpart Mohammed Morsi, the White House said.

Obama also told Morsi that it was "essential for Egyptian leaders across the political spectrum to put aside their differences and come together to agree on a path that will move Egypt forward," the White House said in a statement.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi announced on Thursday that the referendum on the constitutional decree will not be cancelled or postponed, calling on all parties and political figures in the country to join him in a dialogue session on Saturday at the presidential palace.

“The upcoming referendum will decide the constitutional amendment’s fate,” Morsi said in a speech he gave, adding that he will not insist on keeping this decree if an accord is reached with parties that oppose it.

Syrian activists called online for nationwide protests on Friday to reject any future U.N. deployment of blue helmets in the strife-torn country, as rebels inched closer to the capital amid raging violence.

"No to 'peacekeeping' forces in Syria," was the slogan announced for weekly Friday protests, according to the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page.

Ecuador said Thursday it has not offered Bashar Assad asylum amid speculation the embattled Syrian president was weighing Latin America as a place of refuge.

"Totally denied," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account. "No Syrian citizen has requested asylum in Ecuador, much less its current president."

At least 42,000 people have been killed in violence since an uprising broke out against the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad in March last year, a monitoring group said on Thursday.

"At least 29,455 civilians have been killed, as have 1,426 troops who defected to the opposition and 10,551 soldiers," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Britain will press its European partners next week to amend the arms embargo on Syria to allow them to provide weapons to rebels fighting the regime, Europe minister David Lidington said Thursday.

"Having successfully amended the EU arms embargo (and sanctions package) by setting a three-month renewal period, we will make fresh arguments in support of amending the arms embargo ahead of the March 2013 deadline in a way that offers sufficient flexibility to increase practical support to the Syrian opposition," Lidington said in a written statement to parliament.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday over new Jewish settlements but both were at pains to stress their unshakable ties.

On a visit that had risked being overshadowed by the diplomatic storm that has strained relations with close allies, Netanyahu joined Merkel for a meeting between most of their cabinet ministers after a private dinner late Wednesday.