The head of the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean region told staff in an internal email that he is "very disturbed" by allegations reported by the Associated Press last week that the U.N. health agency's Syria director misspent millions, abused staff and violated the organization's own COVID-19 protocols as the pandemic swept across the war-torn country.

In a message sent to all staff in the Middle East on Friday, Dr. Ahmed Salim Al-Mandhari said "the allegations negatively impact the people of Syria, whom we strive to serve."

Israel's military has long had a cozy relationship with Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Those ties are about to deepen.

For the first time, a settler will serve as chief of staff of Israel's military, becoming the enforcer of Israel's open-ended occupation of the West Bank, now in its 56th year.

A Palestinian militant was killed Sunday in an explosion in the occupied West Bank, police said, with Israel staying silent on allegations from fighters that it was behind his assassination.

Saudi Arabia's powerful 37-year-old crown prince will not attend an upcoming summit in Algeria after his doctors advised him not to travel, the Algerian presidency said early Sunday.

Saudi Arabia offered no immediate acknowledgment of the comments by Algeria about the condition of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has quickly risen to power under his 86-year-old father King Salman. Much of the focus on the Al Saud royal family in recent years has been on King Salman's health, with analysts suggesting Prince Mohammed could rule the OPEC-leading nation for decades after ascending to the throne.

Israel carried out an airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus and its southern suburbs late Friday, in the first such attack in more than a month, state media reported. There were no casualties in the strikes.

The Syrian military said later that several Israeli missiles were fired toward some military positions near Damascus. It said Syrian air defenses shot down most of the missiles, adding that there was only material losses.

Yemen's Iran-backed rebels said they targeted a cargo ship Friday off an oil terminal in the war-wrecked Arab country's south to prevent pro-government forces from using it for oil exports. A Greek company owning the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker said it sustained no damage in the attack by explosive-laden drones.

The attack apparently targeting the Nissos Kea marks the first announced military action since a truce between the country's warring sides expired earlier this month. It also again signals potential danger for commercial ships that pass by or stop in Yemen.

The United States has warned against any normalization of ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and insisted his reconciliation with Hamas -- also a pariah for Washington -- showed his "isolation."

Greece on Friday launched operations at a new international pilot training center created in partnership with Israel, as it tries to build on its relative air power advantage over regional rival Turkey.

Israeli defense contractor Elbit, which finalized a $1.65 billion deal with Greece's government, assisted by Israel, last year, will help run the facility located on an air force base outside the southern Greek city of Kalamata.

Experts with the U.N.'s top human rights body have decried Israel's occupation of territories Palestinians seek for their future state, saying it was "unlawful under international law" and increasingly entrenched.

The experts, members of a special commission, also appealed to the International Court of Justice to offer its opinion on the matter. Their statement came in a report to the U.N. General Assembly, which is to discuss the report next week.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said early Friday that a Palestinian youth died shortly after being wounded by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank as Israeli-Palestinian tensions surge.

The increase in tension is over Israeli raids and an uptick in shooting attacks by Palestinians.