The disappearance of journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi from Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate has rattled already brittle ties between two powerful rivals vying for influence in the Muslim world, analysts say.

Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen have killed almost 80 Huthi rebel fighters over 48 hours in the western province of Hodeida, military and medical sources said Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told Russia's vice premier in talks on Tuesday that Israel must continue to hit hostile targets in neighboring Syria, despite Moscow's decision to equip Damascus with advanced air defense missiles.

Bahrain's main opposition group called Tuesday for a boycott of November parliamentary elections after its members were banned from running.

Qatari-bought fuel arrived at the Gaza Strip's only power station after entering through Israel on Tuesday in a bid to alleviate conditions in the Palestinian enclave, a Hamas spokesman and sources said.

Iraq's prime minister designate Adel Abdel Mahdi launched a website on Tuesday to allow candidates to apply for a ministerial position online as he struggles to form a government.

Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman has implemented a string of reforms in his country, but with his ascension to crown prince in June 2017 has come an intensified crackdown on dissent.

Just a few months after the 33-year-old was appointed heir to the Gulf region's most powerful throne, rights groups reported the first wave of arrests.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has granted general amnesty to army deserters both within Syria and those outside the country.

A decree published by state media on Tuesday says the amnesty doesn't include "criminals" and those on the run unless they turn themselves in to authorities.

Jihadists and Turkish-backed rebels in Syria's last major opposition stronghold have withdrawn most of their heavy weapons from a planned buffer zone ahead of a Wednesday deadline, a monitor said.

The pullback is the first major test of a deal brokered by government ally Russia and rebel-backer Turkey last month to avoid what the United Nations warned would be the appalling humanitarian consequences of a major government offensive.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to let Turkish authorities search the kingdom's Istanbul consulate after prominent journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi went missing last week, the Turkish foreign ministry said Tuesday.

"Saudi authorities said they were open to cooperation and that a search can be conducted at the consulate building," the ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.