Syrians poured into the streets in celebration after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and leading officials from several Middle Eastern countries in Madrid a day after Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have called for an immediate cease-fire and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The United States has vetoed a United Nations resolution backed by almost all other Security Council members and many other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

President Joe Biden has spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging the leaders to allow humanitarian aid to the region and affirmed his support for efforts to protect civilians.

President Joe Biden dispatched his national security adviser Jake Sullivan to Saudi Arabia for talks with the kingdom’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on normalizing relations between the country and Israel.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says that while the kingdom would welcome U_S_ aid in building its civilian nuclear program, there are also "others that are bidding.”.

Arab foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia have welcomed Syria back to the Arab League, and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organization's annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

Regional leaders are meeting in Jordan to discuss Syria’s return to the Arab fold and a Jordanian proposal to reach a “political solution” to the Syrian conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on energy-rich nations to increase their production of oil and natural gas to counteract the loss of Russian supplies amid sanctions over Moscow’s war on his country.

On Monday, March 22, 2021, Saudi Arabia announced a plan to to offer Yemens Houthi rebels a cease-fire in the countrys yearslong war and allow a major airport to reopen in its capital. Saudi Arabia has drawn internationally criticism for airstrikes killing civilians and embargoes exacerbating hunger in a nation on the brink of famine. A unilaterally declared Saudi cease-fire collapsed last year. Saudi Arabia said the plan would be presented both to the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government later Monday. —-Associated Press writers Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

DUBAI – Saudi Arabia's top diplomat said Friday that an end to the yearslong boycott of Qatar by the kingdom and three other Arab nations “looks in reach” for all involved, though he offered no details on how this feud would be resolved. The boycott has torn apart the typically clubby Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation group comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Kushner and other American officials have traveled in the waning days of the Trump administration to Saudi Arabia and Qatar over the crisis. Sheikh Mohammed, speaking earlier to the Mediterranean Dialogues, similarly said that “this needless crisis needs to come to an end." Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut ties to Qatar on June 5, 2017, just after a summit in Saudi Arabia in which Gulf leaders met with Trump.

JERUSALEM – Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, denied on Twitter that the meeting took place. While Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have reached deals under the Trump administration to normalize ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia so far has remained out of reach. The reported meeting puts even more pressure on Iran ahead of an incoming Biden administration that has signaled a potential willingness to return to the 2015 nuclear deal. But Saudi Arabia appears to have given its blessing to the decisions of its Gulf neighbors, the UAE and Bahrain, to establish ties with Israel.

BERLIN Saudi Arabias foreign minister on Wednesday cautiously welcomed an agreement between its close ally the United Arab Emirates and Israel to establish full ties and exchange embassies. The UAE framed its agreement as a successful measure that halted Israeli plans to annex West Bank territory. Saudi Arabia, like other Arab Gulf states, has built quiet ties with Israel over the years, in part because of shared concerns over Iran and its policies in the region. Prince Faisal reiterated during the press conference the kingdoms long-stated public stance of support for the Arab Peace Initiative sponsored by Saudi Arabia in 2002 which promises Israel full ties with Arab states if a peace settlement is reached with the Palestinians. He reiterated the kingdoms long-held public stance that a future Palestinian state should include east Jerusalem as its capital.