Morocco is hoping its unprecedented World Cup exploits can help it win friends and influence people, especially among an Arab public opposed to its 2020 rapprochement with Israel.

Support for the Atlas Lions surged as they battled their way to the semi-final of the football World Cup in Qatar -- the first Arab or African team ever to get so far.

Israel's defense minister said Wednesday that the remains of a Palestinian prisoner who died a day earlier from lung cancer would not be released for burial.

Benny Gantz's office said the body of Nasser Abu Hamid, one of the founders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, would be held as a bargaining chip for the return of captive Israelis and the remains of soldiers held by the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Leaders from the Middle East and Europe gathered in Jordan Tuesday in a conference focused on bolstering security and stability in Iraq.

The meeting included high-level officials from regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, along with leaders from France, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the European Union. The countries said the goal was to show "support for Iraq, its sovereignty, security, and stability, as well as its political process, its economic and development progress, and its efforts to rebuild."

Palestinian factions called for a general strike in the occupied West Bank and urged Palestinians to confront Israeli troops on Tuesday after a Palestinian prisoner died of lung cancer.

Nasser Abu Hamid, 50, a former leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, was sentenced to seven life sentences in 2002 for involvement in the deaths of seven Israelis during the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising against Israel's occupation in the early 2000s.

The government of Cyprus is weighing a proposal for a pipeline that would carry natural gas from Israel to the island nation, where it would be processed and exported by ship to Europe and elsewhere as Russia's war in Ukraine compounds an energy crisis, the Cypriot energy minister said.

Minister Natasa Pilides said the government is mulling licensing requests from energy company Energean to move ahead with the plan once Israel decides how much offshore gas it would agree to export via such a pipeline. The plan to then liquefy and ship the gas from Cyprus is a better option than a pipeline that would connect east Mediterranean gas deposits to Europe, she said.

American forces conducted three raids in eastern Syria and arrested six Islamic State group militants, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.

In their statement, U.S. Central Command said the raids were conducted over the preceding 48 hours, and identified one of the detained militants as "al-Zubaydi," a "Syria Province Senior Official" of the group who they say was involved in planning and facilitating attacks in Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for Iraq to be allowed to choose a path not dictated by foreign powers, in an address Tuesday to a summit aimed at helping to resolve Middle East crises.

Eight people were killed and three injured Monday in an attack by gunmen on an Iraqi village previously held by the Islamic State extremist group, officials said.

The attack took place in the village of Albu Bali northwest of Fallujah in Iraq.

Syria's military said two soldiers were wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit near Damascus early on Tuesday, the first such attack in more than a month.

A military statement said there were also some "material losses" in the strikes and that Syrian air defenses intercepted and shot down a number of the missiles. It did not elaborate.

Jordan hosts a Middle East summit Tuesday bringing together regional and international players hoping to help resolve regional crises, particularly in neighboring Iraq.