Turkey strongly condemned the deal between Israel and Bahrain to normalise relations, describing it as a "fresh blow" to the Palestinian cause.

Iran said Saturday that Bahrain is now partner to the "crimes" of Israel after the two announced a deal to normalise relations after decades of animosity.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday a "peace deal" between Israel and Bahrain, which becomes the second Arab country to settle with its former foe in less than a month.

A huge explosion rocked a Jordanian military munitions depot early Friday sparking a large fire, but the army said there were no casualties at the base located in an uninhabited area. 

Israel launched a missile strike near Syria's main northern city of Aleppo early Friday prompting air defences to respond, Syrian state media reported.

Coronavirus cases in the wider Middle East from Morocco to Pakistan have topped two million, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The caseload for the 21 countries has more than doubled since July 1, the UN agency said.

The Netherlands will pay compensation to a civilian survivor of a 2015 air strike on Iraq by Dutch forces fighting the Islamic State militant group, the defence ministry said.

After more than 45 years washing cars in Kuwait to make ends meet, Egyptian Marzouq Mohammed will soon be kicked out of the country as economic woes and coronavirus stoke anti-foreigner sentiment.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday hosts leaders from Mediterranean states for a summit set to be dominated by growing tensions between Turkey and EU states in the east of the sea.

Syrian firefighters and army helicopters Wednesday battled forest fires for a seventh consecutive day in government-held areas of the war-torn country, state media said.