Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, branded Donald Trump's decision to lift U.S. sanctions on his country "historic and courageous", calling it a turning point for a nation shattered by war and isolation.

Palestinian rescuers reported 94 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a U.S.-backed organization said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month.

Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Tammun Thursday, in a raid the military described as targeting buildings suspected of being used to plan terror attacks.

US President Donald Trump arrived Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' capital, on the final stop of his multi-day Gulf tour, AFP journalists on Air Force One said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. will ease sanctions on Syria could eventually facilitate the country's recovery from years of civil war and transform the lives of everyday Syrians.

But experts say it will take time, and the process for lifting the sanctions — some of which were first introduced 47 years ago — is unclear.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted the United States to "take" Gaza and turn it into a "freedom zone", as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Palestinian territory.

"I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone," the U.S. leader said in Qatar, adding: "I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of siding with a "murderous Islamist terrorist organization" after Macron criticized Israel's blocking of aid to Gaza.

"Macron has once again chosen to stand with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Israeli airstrikes pounded northern and southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 60 people, including almost two dozen children, according to local hospitals and health officials, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was "no way" he would halt Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory before Hamas is defeated.

At least 50 people, including 22 children, were killed in the strikes around Jabaliya in northern Gaza, according to local hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry. At least ten other people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, the European Hospital reported.

President Donald Trump arrived Wednesday in Qatar, where he was greeted by the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, as he kicked off the second leg of his three-nation Middle East tour this week.

In a stunning engagement earlier in the day in Saudi Arabia, Trump met with Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa — a onetime insurgent who had spent years imprisoned by U.S. troops in Iraq. Trump said the rapprochement with Syria came at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Pope Leo XIV vowed to take "every effort" Wednesday to work for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and to actively promote the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Mideast and eastern Europe that have been decimated by years of conflict and persecution.

"The church needs you!" Leo told a Holy Year audience of eastern rite pilgrims.