Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat urged Monday the Syrian government to find a political solution, after dozens of people were killed in fighting between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in Syria’s Sweida province.

"We reject calls for external protection and Israeli intervention," Jumblat stated, as he hoped for the return of security and stability to Sweida. "We are in contact with the Syrian government," the Druze leader told local Annahar newspaper.

Clashes between Bedouin tribes and local fighters in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria have killed 37 people, a war monitor said Monday, as authorities sent forces to de-escalate the situation.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that talks are ongoing over Israel's conflict in Gaza and he hopes for progress in the next week, even as ceasefire negotiations in Doha stalled.

"Gaza -- we are talking and hopefully we're going to get that straightened out over the next week," Trump said, echoing similarly optimistic comments he made July 4.

A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said.

Gaza ceasefire talks hung in the balance as Hamas and Israel on Saturday accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a deal, nearly a week into an attempt to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

Sitting across from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped there would be no more U.S. bombing of Iran.

“I can’t imagine wanting to do that,” Trump said.

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

An Iranian attack on an air base in Qatar key to the U.S. military likely hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.

The U.S. military and Qatar did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the damage, which so far has not been publicly acknowledged. The Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar's capital, on June 23 came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Tehran — and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have resumed their attacks on Red Sea shipping, saying they aim to force Israel to cease fire in Gaza  -- a move that threatens a truce with Washington and rattles maritime trade.

The Iran-backed rebels allege that the two vessels they attacked earlier this week -- the Magic Seas and the Eternity C -- were linked to trade with Israel.