Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned to their country since Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment on wide swathes of Lebanon in September. Many who fled to Lebanon after the war in Syria started in 2011 did not want to go back.

But for officials in Lebanon, the influx of returnees comes as a silver lining to the war between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced some 1.2 million in Lebanon. Some in Syria hope the returning refugees could lead to more international assistance and relief from western sanctions.

A soldier for Yemen's exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom's nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday.

The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being "the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani expressed hopes during a phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that he would keep his "promises to work towards ending wars" in the Middle East.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has discussed Lebanon and Gaza in his first call with his new Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, the Pentagon said.

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant officially stepped down Friday in a ceremony that replaced him with Israel Katz, the former Foreign Minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Gallant earlier this week.

Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s firing, with the news setting off mass protests across the country. Many in Israel view Gallant as the sole moderate voice in a far-right government, and see his dismissal as a sign that the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lost interest in returning hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas militants.

Yemen's Houthi rebels shot down what bystanders described as an American drone early Friday, potentially the latest downing of a U.S. spy drone as the militants continue their attacks on the Red Sea corridor.

The U.S. military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky and a field of burning debris in what those off-camera described as an area of Yemen's al-Jawf province. The military said it was investigating the incident, declining to elaborate further.

Armed Israeli police forced their way into a French-owned church compound in the contested city of Jerusalem on Thursday, the French foreign ministry said, briefly detaining two consulate employees and prompting the top French diplomat to abandon his planned visit to the site.

The unusual incident threatened to further strain relations between Israel and France weeks after French President Emmanuel Macron's call for an arms embargo on Israel prompted backlash from right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.N. condemned on Friday the staggering number of civilians killed in Israel's war in Gaza, saying women and children comprised nearly 70 percent of the thousands of fatalities it had managed to verify.

The United Nations rights office said it had verified 8,119 of the more than 34,500 people reportedly killed during the first six months of the war, finding "close to 70 percent to be children and women".

Rioters "actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them" after a soccer match, Amsterdam authorities said Friday as Israel announced it was sending planes to the Dutch capital to fly fans home.

An unknown number of Israeli supporters were injured in the Thursday night violence that was condemned by the leaders of both the Netherlands and Israel as antisemitic.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday in Jerusalem he saw prospects for ending Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president.

"I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since October 7" last year, Barrot told reporters alongside outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, citing Trump's "wish to see the end of the Middle East's endless wars" as well as Israel's recent "tactical successes".