Iraqi forces said Wednesday they had achieved their objectives in a lightning operation that saw them sweep through disputed Kurdish-held territory in a punishing riposte to an independence vote last month.

Israeli authorities on Tuesday advanced plans for 1,292 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, in a new push by the government for such approvals, settlement watchdog Peace Now told AFP.

"They are all over the West Bank," spokeswoman Hagit Ofran said, without immediately providing a breakdown.

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has been killed during fighting in Syria, Iran's state media reported on Tuesday.

More than 20,000 migrants, including pregnant women and babies, are being held either in detention centers or by traffickers in Libya's people-smuggling hub Sabratha, the U.N. said Tuesday, warning of abuse "on a shocking scale."

Israel's government decided Tuesday not to negotiate with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas if the Islamist movement does not disarm, recognize the country and give up violence.

Syria's war has spiraled into a complex multi-sided conflict since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011, drawing in regional and international powers including the United States and Russia. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday, saying his country will not allow Iran to "establish itself militarily in Syria."

Kuwait has dropped a controversial counterterrorism law mandating DNA testing for all citizens, residents and visitors which had been passed following a 2015 suicide attack, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. 

Hamas warned on Tuesday that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's delay in easing sanctions on Gaza was putting at risk a landmark unity deal signed last week.

"The continuation of the punitive measures against our people in Gaza a month after the dissolution of the administrative council spoils the general atmosphere for reconciliation," a party spokesman said in a statement to Hamas media.

Four Turkish soldiers were killed in northern Iraq in two separate attacks blamed on Kurdish militants, the Turkish military said on Tuesday.