US President Joe Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia next month where he is expected to meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Biden's Saudi visit is part of his wider trip to the Middle East from July 13 to July 16, starting in Israel and the West Bank before landing in Jeddah.
During the stop in Israel, Biden will emphasise the US commitment to the country, which includes billions in military support.
He will also hold a virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, India, and the UAE as a way to demonstrate that regional partnerships extend beyond the Middle East, a senior White House official said.
Biden will end the trip in Saudi Arabia where he is scheduled to attend a summit with GCC leaders as well as Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Jordan's King Abdullah, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.
Israel's airforce killed at least 146 Palestinians in new attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours and injured many more, local health authorities said on Saturday, as the country launched a major ground offensive.
Turkey is in talks with authorities in Baghdad and in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on how the PKK will hand over their weapons, President Tayyip Erdogan said following the group's decision to disband.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday that time should not be wasted on an alternative US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Gaza, saying the UN has a proven plan and 160,000 pallets of relief ready to enter the Palestinian enclave now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in north-eastern Ukraine just hours after the two countries held their first peace talks in three years of war.
The 34th Arab Summit opened today in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, with the participation of all Arab states and representatives from various international and regional organisations.
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), has directed the cultivation of over 4 million coral colonies by 2030, covering more than 900 hectares - an initiative described as the world’s largest of its kind.