An influential U.S. senator allied to President Donald Trump toured the occupied Golan Heights on Monday and vowed to work to have Washington recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Lindsey Graham's pledge was a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who toured the Golan with him, ahead of April 9 Israeli elections.

Barristers across Algeria on Monday joined strike action against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office, a day after the ailing leader's return from hospital in Switzerland.

Children raised in the Islamic State group's "caliphate" should not be treated as terrorists, the United Nations' Children Fund (UNICEF) warned Monday.

Egypt's army on Monday said 46 suspected jihadists were killed in clashes in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where troops are fighting the Islamic State group.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza began receiving $100 payouts from Qatar on Monday, the latest tranche of funds under an informal deal between the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas and Israel.

Hollywood star Gal Gadot has leapt to defend a fellow actress who was chided by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for challenging his party's treatment of Arab citizens.

Kurdish-led forces pounded the last scrap of land held by the Islamic State group Monday, a scattering of tents and destroyed buildings in a remote eastern Syrian hamlet.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani hit back Monday against pressure from the "aggressor" United States on Iraq to limit ties with its neighbor, during his first official visit to Baghdad.

The United States is "very optimistic" that France and Britain will participate in a residual force that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to leave in Syria, his national security advisor said Sunday.

"Certainly in conversations this past week with my British and French counterparts, I'm very optimistic that they're going to participate," John Bolton said, in an interview with ABC's "This Week."

U.S.-backed forces said Sunday time was up for Islamic State group jihadists hunkering down in their eastern Syrian holdout and an assault was imminent.