Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper began his first official visit to Israel on Sunday, with his Israeli counterpart hailing him as a "great friend" of the Jewish state and people.

Canada is one of Israel's staunchest allies and was one of the few countries that opposed a successful Palestinian bid for upgraded status at the United Nations in 2012.

Turkish security forces on Sunday stopped and searched seven trucks near the Syrian border suspected to be loaded with weapons -- but let them go when they discovered Turkish intelligence personnel on board, according to media and officials.

Local media reported that a big contingent of security officers stopped the trucks and briefly detained three of the drivers.

Ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and 24 others, including top activists who opposed him and his predecessor, will stand trial for insulting the judiciary, state media and judicial sources said Sunday.

The defendants have been charged for allegedly making comments in the media and online that showed "disrespect and hatred for the courts and the judiciary," state news agency MENA said.

Italy on Sunday lifted a travel warning for Egyptian beach resorts imposed last year but continued to advise tourists to stay away from other parts of the country, saying there was still "instability and turbulence".

The foreign ministry had issued the warning in August 2013 following Islamist president Mohammed Morsi's ouster by the military and a crackdown on protests.

Israel's premier on Sunday condemned a decision by the U.N. cultural agency to postpone an exhibit tracing 3,500 years of ties between the Jewish people and Israel, following pressure from Arab countries.

UNESCO had said on Friday it was postponing the exhibit after receiving a letter from the 22-member Arab Group which expressed concern it "could impact negatively on the peace process and current negotiations under way in the Middle East."

The al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has reached out to other rebel groups in Syria to head off infighting, in an audio message posted online Sunday.

"Today, the (Islamic) state is reaching out to you to stop fighting us, to focus on fighting the nusairiyah," the voice in the message, purportedly that of ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said, using the term often used by jihadists to refer to the Syrian regime.

Israel released a prominent leader from Islamist movement Hamas on Sunday after he spent more than two years in prison, Palestinian officials said.

Hassan Youssef, who is also a member of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Legislative Council, told reporters after his release he would work with Hamas rivals "Fatah and other Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation."

Russia on Sunday welcomed a decision by Syria's opposition to attend an international peace conference next week alongside representatives of a regime they seek to overthrow.

"That is the right decision, we've have always said that one has to go to the forum and enter into dialogue with the government," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state ITAR-TASS news agency.

Dozens of critically ill residents of a besieged Palestinian refugee camp south of the Syrian capital Damascus were evacuated on Sunday, a Palestinian official told Agence France Presse.

The Yarmuk camp has been largely under the control of Syrian opposition forces for months and government forces have imposed a siege and choked off the entry of supplies into the camp since September.

France's interior minister on Sunday said he was alarmed at the growing number of French jihadists, including minors, going to fight alongside extremist groups in Syria.

Manuel Valls said the trend of young fighters heading for Syria had "accelerated" in recent weeks, and that around a dozen French minors had already gone to Syria or wanted to go there.