The U.S. military has confirmed that the order to withdraw American troops from Syria had been signed, after President Donald Trump held talks with his Turkish counterpart to negotiate a pullout that has stunned Washignton's allies.

With Christmas approaching, Nabil al-Aash dusts off religious books as he attempts to tidy up the war-scarred Saint George Church in the town of Arbin, northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the anti-Islamic State group coalition, has resigned, a State Department official said, capping a chaotic week that saw the departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Donald Trump's stunning decision to pull troops from Syria.

Hamas on Sunday denounced Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas' plan to dissolve the largely defunct Palestinian parliament that it controls, calling it a move to "serve his partisan interests."

Residents and fighters in territory held by pro-Turkish rebels in northern Syria cautiously welcomed Washington's decision to pull out troops, viewing it as a chance to push further into Kurdish territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Sunday to calm domestic concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, saying his country will still act against Iran there.

Turkey on Sunday hit out at Israel's "lawless occupation" of Palestinian territory after the Israeli prime minister accused Turkey of "massacres" against Kurds in a new war of words.

The head of the U.N. team tasked with monitoring a fragile ceasefire in Yemen arrived in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa on Sunday.

Yemeni rebels have welcomed a UN Security Council resolution authorising the deployment of ceasefire monitors to the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, calling it an "important step".

Iran said Saturday the US presence in Syria had been "wrong and illogical" from the start, in its first official reaction to President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops.

"The presence of American forces was from the very start, in principle, a wrong and illogical move and a primary cause of instability and insecurity in the region," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi on his Telegram channel.