Israeli military aircraft carried out air strikes against the Gaza Strip Wednesday night, the army said, in what it called a response to a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave.

Five pro-Iranian fighters were killed by unidentified missiles on Wednesday evening in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a war monitor said.

Israel's embattled premier Benjamin Netanyahu faces off against longtime rival Gideon Saar in a Likud party leadership contest Thursday that could threaten his grip on power. 

Abu Walid emptied a container of pistachio shells into the top of a heater in his living room in violence-plagued northwest Syria, where millions are bracing for a harsh winter.

In a camp for the displaced in northern Syria, Nasrallah scatters mushroom spores into a bag of wet hay, hoping they will sprout and feed his family.

Layla Mohammed barely had time to gather her children's belongings before fleeing their southern Tripoli home when shelling targeted the Libyan capital's outskirts earlier this year.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters marched Wednesday in southern Iraq to mourn a dead activist after a night during which the headquarters of two pro-Iran militias were set on fire, an AFP correspondent reported.

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged the world community to strive for peace and security in war-ravaged Syria and the Middle East in his Christmas message.

The funeral of Algeria's powerful army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah got underway Wednesday as his remains arrived at the People's Palace, images broadcast by state TV showed.

A Saudi court verdict that exonerated the crown prince's top aides over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been globally condemned as a travesty of justice, but won the backing of ally Washington.

Five unnamed people were sentenced to death on Monday while three others were handed jail terms totalling 24 years over the Washington Post columnist's killing last year in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.