A decision by Jordan's King Abdullah II to reclaim territory leased to Israel for a quarter of a century was spurred by domestic pressures and the Arab nation's struggling economy, experts said.

A Japanese journalist who was held in Syria for more than three years arrived home Thursday evening for a tearful reunion with his family after an ordeal he described as "hell."

Israeli warplanes hit Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday in response to rocket fire from the territory into southern Israel, the army said.

The Iraqi parliament approved 14 new cabinet ministers Thursday proposed by prime minister-designate Adel Abdel Mahdi, even as key portfolios such as defence and interior affairs remained unassigned, an official said.

In a desert camp along Syria's border with Jordan, nearly 50,000 displaced people struggle to eke out a living. There are no clinics, no nappies and little food -- welcome to Rukban.

Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince said Wednesday his country would be "totally different" within five years, vowing to pursue sweeping reforms to diversify its economy away from oil.

France is seeking to repatriate some of the 150 children of French jihadists identified as being in Syria, as Western nations grapple with how to handle citizens who left to join extremists.

France will take "punitive measures" if Saudi Arabia is "proven" to be behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said Wednesday, adding that Paris would first have to verify Riyadh's involvement.

Saudi authorities denied permission to Turkish police to search a well in the garden of the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul as part of a probe into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Wednesday denounced the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi as a "repulsive incident," insisting the kingdom was cooperating with Turkish authorities and that "justice will prevail."

"The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the murder of the journalist.