Israel's top diplomat in Dubai has said he is hopeful a deal to ship Emirati oil will clear environmental hurdles as trade booms after the groundbreaking opening of ties.

Ilan Sztulman Starosta, who heads Israel's first consulate in the UAE economic hub, told AFP that trade between the two countries would "easily" surpass $1 billion within a year if the Covid pandemic abates.

Israel on Wednesday approved a series of measures easing its blockade of the Gaza Strip, including opening the main commercial crossing with the Palestinian enclave to imports.

The announcement came a day after Israeli officials allowed the import of crucial construction material needed for the Gaza Strip's rebuilding following the recent conflict in May. Tensions have run high in recent weeks as Hamas activists have launched incendiary balloons into Israel, sparking a number of wildfires across the border, and staged a series of sometimes violent demonstrations along the border fence with Israel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken with the United Arab Emirates' de-facto leader, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, by telephone, Erdogan's office said late Monday, in a sign of easing tensions between the countries.

The two discussed their countries' relations and regional issues, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. The statement did not say when the conversation took place.

Human rights lawyers representing hundreds of victims of Yemen's civil war are calling on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition during the devastating conflict.

British lawyer Toby Cadman filed the request Monday, highlighting three separate incidents — an August 2018 airstrike that destroyed a school bus and killed dozens; a missile attack in October 2016 that killed at least 110 people; and allegations of torture and murder of civilians being held in prisons in the south of Yemen.

An oil slick believed to have originated from a power plant inside one of Syria's oil refineries could reach Cyprus' northeastern tip in the next 24 hours, the Mediterranean island nation's Fisheries and Marine Research Department said Monday.

The Department said the most recent computer model indicates the oil spill could affect Apostolos Andreas Cape in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus by late Tuesday.

Israel's prime minister's office has urged former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to return dozens of expensive gifts he received while serving in the nation's top job.

The request, confirmed Monday by the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, came as Netanyahu reportedly vacationed on a private island in Hawaii almost wholly owned by billionaire Larry Ellison. The Oracle founder is a friend of Netanyahu's and also a witness for the prosecution in the former leader's corruption trial.

An Israeli border police officer who was shot in the head at point-blank range during a violent protest on the Gaza border last week died of his injuries Monday, the Israel police announced.

Barel Hadaria Shmueli, 21, suffered critical injuries when he was shot in the head by a Palestinian gunman on Aug. 21 during a demonstration staged by Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling the Gaza Strip. He was hospitalized for more than a week in critical condition.

Israel's defense minister on Monday announced a series of gestures aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority, including plans to loan $150 million to the cash-strapped autonomy government in the occupied West Bank.

The announcement came a day after Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years.

Syrian government forces shelled rebel-held parts of a volatile southern city Monday killing at least one person, while insurgents killed four soldiers after Russia-brokered talks to end the presence of opposition fighters in the area collapsed.

Syria's state media reported that government forces retaliated against fire by opposition fighters inside the city of Daraa and that attacks on army checkpoints in the city left four soldiers dead and 15 wounded. It said several civilians were wounded in insurgent shelling of government-held parts of Daraa.

Syria's longest river used to flow by his olive grove, but today Khaled al-Khamees says it has receded into the distance, parching his trees and leaving his family with hardly a drop to drink.

"It's as if we were in the desert," said the 50-year-old farmer, standing on what last year was the Euphrates riverbed.