US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday told Turkey it was "imperative" to work against a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

The top US diplomat also said he saw "encouraging signs" on reaching a ceasefire in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

His remarks came on the second leg of a whirlwind regional tour following Bashar al-Assad's ouster in a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist-led HTS rebels, ending five decades of repressive rule by his clan.

Kurdish authorities have made overtures to Islamist-led rebels who seized power in Syria last week, but the long-oppressed community fears it could lose hard-won gains it made during the war, including limited self-rule.

The Kurds faced discrimination during more than 50 years of Assad family rule. They were barred, for example, from offering education in their own language.

Iran has agreed to increased monitoring by the UN nuclear watchdog at its Fordo enrichment plant, following its plans to ramp up production of highly enriched uranium at the site, the agency said in a report seen by AFP on Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that Iran had revamped its Fordo enrichment plant (FFEP), south of Tehran.

The changes would "significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent", the agency said -- close to the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to "prepare to remain" throughout the winter in the UN-patrolled buffer zone that is supposed to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

Israel seized the demilitarised zone on the strategic plateau on Sunday, just hours after Syrian rebels swept president Bashar al-Assad from power.

Eight-year-old Rayan Assani knows next to nothing about Syria, but in a few minutes, the little girl with long black hair and a Barbie backpack will cross the border and head for her family's native Aleppo.

"It's going to be pretty," she said, speaking Arabic in a barely audible voice, clutching her pink earmuffs in her hand amid the bustle at the Turkish-Syrian border.

There, dozens of children like her were preparing to cross with their parents following the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Thousands of Syrians converged on a landmark Damascus mosque for Friday prayers, waving opposition flags and chanting -- a sight unimaginable just days ago before rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

At the capital's famed Umayyad Mosque, men, women and children gathered to celebrate on the first Friday prayers since Assad's ouster, later streaming into the city streets and squares.

For the Catholic Marist Brothers of Aleppo, one of nearly a dozen Christian communities in Syria's second city, today's most pressing question is how to decorate the Christmas tree.

In the days since a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist rebels overthrew former president Bashar al-Assad, the country's new rulers have sought to reassure Syria's religious minorities.

The efforts have been successful, at least "for now," said Brother Georges Sabe, who took part earlier this week in a meeting between rebels and local Christian representatives.

Syrians rejoiced into the night as fireworks exploded on the first Friday -- the Muslim day of rest and prayer -- since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital.

Assad's fall has also led to fast-moving diplomatic developments.

Turkey announced it will reopen on Saturday its embassy, closed since 2012 amid Turkish government calls at that time for Assad to step down.

The former head of a notorious Syrian prison was charged Thursday in the United States with torturing opponents of the now-collapsed government of Bashar al-Assad, the Justice Department said.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 72, who has been in the US since 2020, allegedly ran Damascus Central Prison -- known colloquially as Adra Prison -- from approximately 2005 to 2008, where detainees were subjected to horrific abuse in the "Punishment Wing."

The Palestinian Authority admitted on Thursday that its forces were responsible for the death of a 19-year-old Palestinian man during unrest this week in Jenin city in the occupied West Bank.

Rahbi Shalabi was killed on Monday amid rare clashes between local militants and the Palestinian security forces, who exercise limited authority in the Israeli-occupied territory.

The security forces had initially claimed Shalabi was beaten to death by "lawbreakers".