Russia will not pay for the Mistral warships being built by France until both ships have been delivered, an official said on Tuesday.

A convoy of 262 Russian trucks rolled toward the Ukrainian border on Tuesday as Kiev vowed to block the aid mission from its territory over fears it was a ploy to bolster pro-Kremlin rebels.

The convoy of what Russia says is humanitarian aid has sparked fears of an escalation in a conflict that has left hundreds dead in eastern Ukraine in recent months and plunged Moscow's ties with the West to their lowest point in decades.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday authorized $10 million in military aid for a major French counterterrorism mission in the Sahel region of West Africa.

"I hereby determine that an unforeseen emergency exists that requires immediate military assistance to France in its efforts to secure Mali, Niger and Chad from terrorists and violent extremists," Obama said.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi denounced on Monday "crimes against humanity" committed by jihadists in Iraq against the minority Yazidi sect, demanding the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Iraqi politicians have warned of the dire plight of Yazidis stranded high up a mountain after Islamic State militants overran their lands.

France is not planning to follow the United States in carrying out military action in Iraq, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said during a visit to the country on Sunday.

"The Americans have intervened in a useful way while specifying -- and they are right -- that they have no intention of sending ground troops," Fabius said at a televised joint press conference with Massud Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan.

Israel and the Palestinians agreed to a fresh 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza Sunday, accepting an Egyptian invitation to resume talks to end fighting that has killed more than 2,000 people.

The ceasefire deal, which was to come into effect at one minute past midnight (2101 GMT on Sunday), clinched days of frantic mediation to stem a firestorm of violence that resumed after an earlier truce collapsed on Friday. 

France will begin delivery of first aid equipment to Iraq "in the coming hours", the president's office said on Saturday.

President Francois Hollande assured the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, by phone that the aid was on its way, according to a statement from the Elysee Palace.

Speaker Nabih Berri has urged the Lebanese authorities to deal with the Syrian encampments “differently” after many gunmen taking refuge there joined militants last weekend and took over the northeastern border town of Arsal.

“From now on, we should deal with the refugee encampments differently and not to tolerate” the presence of armed men there, Berri was quoted as saying by several newspapers that hit the newsstands on Friday.

The Nigerian Islamist movement Boko Haram has recruited and trained hundreds of young Cameroonians to carry out attacks in their own country, according to the police and civilians. 

The U.N. Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Iraq on Thursday, after Islamist militants seized the country's largest Christian town.

The meeting was requested by France which expressed concern over the advance of Islamic State fighters and the seizure of Qaraqosh, in a new offensive that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes.