Saudi Arabia has sought to draw a line under one of its biggest crises triggered by critic Jamal Khashoggi's murder, but an ever greater threat of international scrutiny and pressure hang over the kingdom.

Riyadh on Thursday exonerated powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of involvement in the murder as it called for the death penalty against five men, and as the United States, a key ally, slapped sanctions on 17 suspects.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered on October 2 in his country's consulate in Istanbul. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was battling to keep his government afloat on Friday after Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a ceasefire deal for Gaza.

Jihadists on Friday killed nine Syrian regime fighters near a planned buffer zone around the country's last major rebel bastion, a monitor said.

Turkey has more evidence contradicting the Saudi version of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi including a second audio recording, a Turkish newspaper reported on Friday.

France on Thursday welcomed Saudi Arabia's indictment of several suspects over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling it a "step in the right direction" in an investigation being watched by the world.

In a statement, the French foreign ministry reiterated President Emmanuel Macron's call for full light to be shed on Khashoggi's October 2 death at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and said: "We will continue to study developments in the case closely."

Here is a timeline of events since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2.

- 'Murdered' -

Turkey on Thursday said the Saudi statement over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "insufficient" and insisted that the killing was "premeditated."

"We find all those steps positive but insufficient," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised speech.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Thursday dismissed Turkey's demand for an international inquiry into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Riyadh has its own "investigative body" and would "reject" an independent investigation into the killing of Khashoggi, who had been "heavily drugged" before being dismembered, Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plotted his next moves Thursday after his defence minister resigned over a controversial Gaza ceasefire, throwing his coalition into crisis and raising the possibility of early elections.