Christian worshippers thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to celebrate the ceremony of the "Holy Fire," an ancient ritual that sparked tensions this year with the Israeli police.

In the annual ceremony that has been observed for over a millennium, a flame taken from Jesus' tomb is used to light the candles of fervent believers in Greek Orthodox communities near and far. The devout believe the origin of the flame is a miracle and is shrouded in mystery.

After meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria's political fate, a group of regional leaders promised to continue talks to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict, but stopped short of endorsing its return to the Arab League.

The meeting, which included top diplomats from the Arab Gulf countries as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, was convened days after Syria's foreign minister visited Saudi Arabia for the first time since the kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.

Iran's president has delivered an unprecedented speech to an annual pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip — a display of Iran's importance to the Hamas militant group that rules the territory.

In a virtual address to hundreds of supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group gathered at a soccer field, Ebrahim Raisi urged Palestinians to press on with their struggle against Israel.

A flight carrying Huthi rebel prisoners of war left Saudi Arabia on Saturday bound for Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

The flight from the southern Saudi city of Abha took off before 9 am (0600 GMT) carrying 120 former detainees, ICRC public affairs and media adviser Jessica Moussan said.

Diplomats meeting in Saudi Arabia agreed Saturday that the Arab world must play a leading role in efforts to broker a solution to Syria's war, following talks aimed at easing Damascus's isolation.

Top diplomats from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan met in Saudi Arabia at the kingdom's request.

The rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia under Chinese mediation could redraw the Middle East map completely, with significant spillovers for the strategic and troubled region.

- A paradigm shift -

Saudi Arabia was preparing Thursday to host an Arab regional meeting on ending Syria's isolation at a time of dizzying diplomatic shifts following its deal to resume relations with rival Iran.

Friday's nine-nation talks in Jeddah, the Red Sea gateway to Mecca, come after Syria's foreign minister arrived on a previously unannounced visit -- the first since the outbreak of the country's civil war in 2011.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land has warned in an interview that the rise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has made life worse for Christians in the birthplace of Christianity.

The influential Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told The Associated Press that the region's 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing government in Israel's history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at a quickening pace.

Qatar and Bahrain announced late Wednesday that they had agreed to end a long-running diplomatic feud and re-establish relations.

Bahrain in 2017 joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in imposing a diplomatic blockade on Qatar. The countries' rivalry goes back even further, however, and Bahrain is the last to renew ties.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has welcomed his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan in Cairo, his latest meeting with a leader from the oil-rich Gulf amid his country's economic crisis.

Sisi has been courting Gulf leaders as Egypt grapples with economic turmoil that has seen official inflation shoot up to nearly 34 percent and the local currency halve in value over the past year.