The U.S. Senate has narrowly confirmed former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief, despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other fears about his ability to lead the world's most powerful military.

Kyiv said Friday that Russia had returned the bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian troops, in one of the largest repatriation efforts of the nearly three-year war.

"The bodies of 757 fallen defenders were returned to Ukraine," the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a Ukrainian state agency, said in a post on social media.

A senior Hamas official told AFP that his group will provide on Friday the names of four women hostages to be freed the following day as part of a second release under the ceasefire with Israel.

"Today, Hamas will provide the names of four hostages as part of the second prisoner exchange," said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, adding that the captives will be swapped for a group of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia's top diplomat landed in Syria on Friday, an AFP correspondent reported, in his first visit to Damascus since Islamist-led rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad last month.

Syrian authorities said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is set to meet with new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is eyeing investments from wealthy Gulf states to rebuild the war-torn country.

The United Nations voiced serious concerns Friday over the Israeli military's use of force in its raid this week in the West Bank, including methods "developed for war fighting".

"We are deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The deadly Israeli operations in recent days raise serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including methods and means developed for war fighting, in violation of international human rights law, norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told a media briefing in Geneva.

The United Nations stressed Friday that the right to seek asylum is "universally recognized", following decisions by President Donald Trump to suspend all refugee admissions and halt the US asylum program.

"All states are entitled to exercise their jurisdiction along their international borders, (but) they need to do so in line with their human rights obligations," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva when asked about the decisions, stressing that "the right to seek asylum is a universally recognized human right".

Emirates airline will resume flights to Beirut on February 1 after a four-month suspension triggered by conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a statement said on Friday.

The Middle East's biggest airline will first offer a daily return flight and scale up to two services per day from April 1, the statement said.

Residents returned Thursday to the town of Naqoura near the Lebanon-Israel border, which hosts the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area.

Long lines of cars, some waving Hezbollah flags, inched along the coastal road. The Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers had reopened roads, cleared mines and removed unexploded ordnance from residential neighborhoods.

Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat said on Thursday he believes crisis-hit Lebanon’s newly elected president and his prime-minister designate are capable of spearheading long-sought reforms.

"We are greatly confident in the ability of... the president and the prime minister to initiate reforms necessary to bolster Lebanon’s security, stability and unity," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after meeting President Joseph Aoun in Baabda, during the first high-level Saudi visit in more than a decade.

Hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank's Jenin refugee camp have started leaving their homes Thursday after Israeli forces issued an "evacuation order" during a large-scale raid, a Palestinian official said.

"Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp," where Israel's military launched an intense military operation this week, Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.