Israel is deliberately impeding progress toward a two-state solution and can no longer be considered a reliable partner in the peace process, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations on Friday.

In the heart of Iraq's capital lies Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, which last month saw angry protesters storm its perimeter -- the latest in nearly two decades of assaults on the seat of power.

A Palestinian man was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman after stabbing a pair of Israeli motorists at an intersection in central Israel, Israeli officials and media said.

The incident came at a time of heightened Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Nablus was a battered city. Shops gaped open to the street, their windows smashed. Street signs were overturned. Ash stained the roads. Armored vehicles roamed the city center, still pockmarked and splattered with paint from a day of protests.

The destruction resembled the aftermath of firefights between Palestinian youths and the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank's second-largest city, where posters of killed Palestinians paper the old city's limestone walls. But this time, Israel was not involved. The violent chaos on Tuesday that left a 53-year-old man dead erupted between Palestinians and their own security forces, who coordinate with Israel in an uneasy alliance against Islamic militants.

The international community should use military force if Iran develops nuclear weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told the United Nations, as he reiterated support for creation of a "peaceful" Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia said Thursday it will launch a training program with the goal of sending its own astronauts, including a woman, into space next year.

The kingdom is actively promoting science and technology as part of its wide-ranging Vision 2030 plan to overhaul its economy and reduce its dependency on oil.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Thursday threatened hostile actions against Israel over what it called "violations against Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque" ahead of the upcoming Jewish High Holidays.

Hamas's threats came just ahead of Sunday's Jewish new year, and a day after a group of Jewish religious extremists visited a contested holy site revered by both Jews and Muslims and blew the shofar — a ram's horn that's trumpeted in the run-up to and during the Jewish High Holidays.

From a Lebanese student decrying government failures through art to a Palestinian teacher seeking escape in music, young people across the Middle East are creatively giving voice to complex situations.

In a series exploring youth aspirations in the volatile region -- where more than half of the population is under 30 -- AFP speaks to artists in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, Israel and Iraq about the hardships, uncertainties and challenges they face.

Relatives of the 43 Mexican students who disappeared in 2014 protested outside Israel's embassy, demanding the extradition of a former top investigator wanted in connection with the case.

The United Arab Emirates has called on its courts to begin enforcing the judgements of British courts, in a move that could affect the city of Dubai's status as a haven for the world's wealthy.

The decision, which affects all noncriminal civil, financial and marital cases, is already in effect and does not need to be drafted into law.