Kurdish-led forces withdrew on Sunday from Syria's largest oil field, a conflict monitor said, as government troops extended their grip over swathes of territory in the country's north and east.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday gave a key role in post-war Gaza to former British prime minister Tony Blair and appointed a U.S. officer to lead a nascent security force.

The prime minister of Yemen has been replaced by his foreign minister after the premier submitted the government's resignation, the country's Saudi-backed presidential body said.

The move comes after weeks of tensions between Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following a failed push by Abu Dhabi-backed separatists to seize most of Yemen's south.

Civilians fled a Kurdish-held region of northern Syria on Friday before a deadline set by the army, which seeks to expand its control over the area after driving Kurdish forces from Aleppo.

The government is seeking to extend its authority nationwide following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said, offering mediation amid large-scale protests in Iran.

"Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the Kremlin announced in a statement, asserting "Russia's readiness to continue its mediation efforts."

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.

The White House says it is moving into the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan – breathing new life into a proposal that aims to rebuild the war-ravaged area and reshape the wider Middle East.

Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, broke the news Wednesday in a post on X, saying the new phase will include the establishment of a transitional Palestinian governing committee and begin the complicated tasks of disarming Hamas and reconstruction.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the formation of a Gaza "board of peace," a key phase two element of a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory.

"It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding that the members of the body will be announced "shortly."

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk U.S. President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing "grave blowbacks in the region", a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday.

The Gulf trio "led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention", the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast the announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out.

Speaking late Wednesday with the parents of the last Israeli hostage whose remains are still in Gaza, Netanyahu said the governing committee of Palestinians announced as part of the second phase was merely a "declarative move," rather than the sign of progress described by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.