U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed home from Jordan Thursday after a whistlestop Middle East tour on which he called for regional cooperation to consolidate a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza militants.

Israel's recent barrage of deadly airstrikes on Gaza might be war crimes, the U.N. rights chief warned Thursday, adding she had seen no evidence the attacked buildings were used for military purposes.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas vowed Wednesday not to touch "a single cent" of international aid to rebuild Gaza following its war with Israel that ravaged the enclave it rules.

Yemeni officials demanded answers Wednesday after an Associated Press report highlighted a mysterious air base being built on a Yemeni island in one of the world's crucial maritime chokepoints.

A lawmaker asked Yemen's internationally recognized government if the United Arab Emirates built the facility as data in the AP report links the UAE to the construction.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo Wednesday on a Mideast tour to shore up an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

President Bashar al-Assad dismissed criticism of Syria's presidential election Wednesday as voters flocked to the polls in government-held areas despite Western accusations it was neither "free nor fair".

The latest escalation in the Middle East conflict served to unite the geographically fragmented Palestinian community in a way not seen in years, analysts say.

A mysterious air base is being built on a volcanic island off Yemen that sits in one of the world's crucial maritime chokepoints for both energy shipments and commercial cargo.

While no country has claimed the Mayun Island air base in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, shipping traffic associated with a prior attempt to build a massive runway across the 5.6-kilometer-long island years ago links back to the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken on Tuesday vowed support to help rebuild the battered Gaza Strip and shore up a truce between Hamas and Israel, but insisted the territory's Islamist militant rulers would not benefit from any aid.

Syria's foreign minister blamed Israel for mysterious attacks over more than a year targeting oil tankers heading to Syria, saying they violate international law and will not go unpunished.

Faisal Mekdad told Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV in an interview aired late Sunday that oil tankers coming to Syria now move under Russian protection. He did not provide any evidence for how Israel was behind the attacks.