A convoy carrying Libya's contested unity government chief, Fayez al-Sarraj, and other top officials came under heavy gunfire Monday in Tripoli, but they survived unharmed, spokesmen for his administration said.

An Egyptian court upheld Monday death sentences against 10 people convicted over rioting that claimed 74 lives at a stadium in Port Said in 2012, judicial and security officials said.

Syrian government forces Monday escalated their bombing campaign around Damascus, raining shells down on rebel territory and sending out a "bloody message" just days before renewed peace talks in Geneva. 

Representatives from the opposition and of President Bashar al-Assad's regime are to head to Switzerland on Thursday for another attempt to end their country's brutal six-year war.

At least two rockets fired from Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Monday hit southern Israel, causing no damage, the army said, the second such incident this month.

Benjamin Netanyahu will become the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit Australia on Wednesday on a historic Asia trip that also includes Singapore, but faces protests Down Under.

The right-wing Israeli leader will meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney.

Iraqi forces backed by jets and helicopters battled their way to Mosul airport Monday as they prepared to take on the Islamic State group's stronghold in the city's west bank.

The fresh push in the four-month-old operation to retake Mosul has sparked fears for 750,000 trapped civilians who risk getting killed trying to flee and face starvation if they stay.

The United States is not about to plunder Iraq's petroleum reserves, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who arrived in Baghdad Monday, said as he sought to soothe partners rattled by remarks President Donald Trump made.

Iran on Monday criticized what it said was coordination between Israel and regional rival Saudi Arabia, describing attempts to create an "international atmosphere" against Tehran. 

Yemeni rebels have abducted a dozen local staff working for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Red Sea district of Hodeida, a minister and local sources said Monday. 

The leading Syrian opposition body on Sunday lambasted escalating attacks by government forces as a "bloody message" aimed at sabotaging peace talks that are due to open in Geneva next week.