President Joe Biden acknowledged Friday that an independent state for Palestinians "can seem so far away" as he confronted hopelessness about the stagnant peace process during a visit to the West Bank.

"The Palestinian people are hurting now," he said. "You can just feel it. Your grief and frustration. In the United States, we can feel it."

The United States has hinted that more Arab nations could take steps to improve ties with Israel, ahead of President Joe Biden's arrival in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

All eyes are on the kingdom, where Biden is to land despite a previous vow to treat the kingdom as a "pariah" over the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia announced Friday it was lifting restrictions on "all carriers" using its airspace, an apparent gesture of openness towards Israel hours before U.S. President Joe Biden's arrival.

The U.S. leader welcomed the "historic" decision, the latest conciliatory move by Riyadh concerning the Jewish state, which it has refused to recognize despite intensive efforts by the Israelis to establish ties with Arab countries.

Iran warned the United States and its allies against undermining regional security after U.S. President Joe Biden signed Thursday a security pact with Israel during a visit to the Jewish state.

"I tell the Americans and their regional allies that the Iranian nation will not accept any crisis or insecurity in the region, and that any mistake made in this region will be met with a harsh and regrettable response," Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said in televised remarks.

The U.S. will use "all elements of its national power" to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, President Joe Biden pledged in a security declaration signed with Israel on Thursday.

In the document inked by Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem, the two countries "reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our two countries and the enduring commitment of the United States to Israel's security."

Mahmud Aguil has a comfortable house in Libya's capital Tripoli, but chronic power outages in the war-battered country and roasting summer heat now force him to sleep in his air-conditioned van.

"This is my bedroom," the 48-year-old said pointing to the cramped vehicle, its back seats removed to make space for him and his two young children. "In the morning I wake up with a terrible backache. 

Libya's Tripoli-based government has named a new head of the state oil company to replace veteran technocrat Mustafa Sanalla, who refused to give up his post.

Unlike many other Libyan state bodies, the National Oil Corporation, led by Sanalla since 2014, has largely managed to remain neutral in the face of political wrangling.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has shaken up the conservative kingdom with head-spinning reforms while quashing any threats to his status since becoming de facto ruler of the world's biggest oil producer five years ago.

The hard-charging heir drew international revulsion after Saudi agents killed and dismembered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, but U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to the kingdom this week looks set to restore his position on the international stage, forcing world leaders to deal with him whether they want to or not. 

Israeli journalist Yoav Limor did not know what to expect when he travelled with a colleague this month to Saudi Arabia, a country long notorious for promoting anti-Israel sentiment in textbooks and in sermons by some imams.   

They were in for "a pleasant surprise", he wrote in a subsequent column for the Israel Hayom newspaper, as Saudi market vendors and taxi drivers mostly greeted them with curiosity rather than disdain.

The widow of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S.-based writer killed by Saudi government agents four years ago, said Wednesday that she received a commitment that President Joe Biden will bring up the murder when he meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The crown prince, whom Biden will be meeting for the first time in Jeddah on Friday, likely approved of the killing, according to U.S. intelligence.