U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Morocco Tuesday to discuss recent shifts in the diplomatic dynamic in the Middle East and North Africa that could upend some of the region's long-standing disputes.

A day after an unprecedented gathering in Israel's Negev Desert with the Israeli foreign minister and their counterparts from four Arab nations that have normalized relations with Israel, Blinken was holding talks with senior Moroccan officials to look at opportunities for expanding those ties.

Egypt's foreign minister has held talks with his Qatari counterpart that focused on improved ties between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry met with Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Cairo.

Gulf Arab states were to gather for a summit Tuesday about the yearslong war in Yemen, which the country's Houthi rebels are boycotting because it's taking place in Saudi Arabia, their adversary in the conflict.

The decision by the Iran-backed Houthis to skip the summit, called by the Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council, immediately called into question the effectiveness of such a gathering.

Within days of the Russian invasion, Western countries invoked international law, imposed crippling sanctions, began welcoming refugees with open arms and cheered on Ukraine's armed resistance.

The response has elicited outrage across the Middle East, where many see a glaring double standard in how the West responds to international conflicts.

Jordan's King Abdullah II met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday, in his first trip to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 2017, Abbas's office said. 

Abdullah's visit came as foreign ministers from four Arab countries and the U.S. wrapped up a meeting which host Israel hailed as "historic", following a series of normalization agreements last year which angered the Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the top diplomats of Israel and four Arab states wrapped up a landmark meeting Monday vowing to boost cooperation, which Israel said would send a strong message to its arch foe Iran. 

The talks brought together for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco -- which all normalized ties with the Jewish state in 2020 -- and of Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979.

The United Arab Emirates' energy minister doubled down Monday on an oil alliance with Russia that's helped buoy crude prices to their highest in years as Moscow's war on Ukraine rattles markets and sends energy and commodity prices soaring.

The minister said Russia, with its 10 million barrels of oil a day, is an important member of the global OPEC+ energy alliance.

Israel on Monday hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East.

The gathering brought together the top diplomats from all but one of the Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel in U.S.-mediated negotiations, including three that signed the so-called Abraham Accords during the Trump administration in 2020.

The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Monday after a pair of Arab gunmen killed two people and wounded four in central Israel before they were killed by police.

The two killed in the Sunday night attack were Israeli police officers, authorities said.

The Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes in Yemen early on Sunday after the country's Huthi rebels called a three-day truce and offered a permanent ceasefire, Saudi media said.