Nine people were killed in Israeli strikes on villages in southern Lebanon Monday, after Israel said it was taking aim at dozens of Hezbollah targets in retaliation for an attack claimed by the militant group amid a fragile ceasefire.

Both Israel and Hezbollah faced accusations Monday of breaching the truce, which took effect on Wednesday to end a war that has killed thousands of people in Lebanon and sparked mass displacements on both sides of the border.

Iraq sent armoured vehicles on Monday to reinforce its long border with Syria, in a bid to ease concerns after a surprise offensive in the neighbouring country by Islamist-led insurgents.

The lightning offensive by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied factions saw government forces lose full control of Syria's second city Aleppo for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.

The attacks have caused unease in Iraq, which still bears the scars of decades of conflict, including the rise of jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler discussed "new crises" in the Middle East with the UAE's president during his first visit to the country in three years, Emirati media said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Sunday in Al Ain, a former oasis on the Omani border, hours after a Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Kuwait.

The trip, termed a "private visit" by Saudi official media, took place after Syrian rebels seized control of Aleppo, the country's second biggest city, in a shock offensive.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Monday branded an Islamist-led offensive that has captured swathes of territory an attempt to redraw the regional map in line with US interests.

His comments in a phonecall with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian came as Syrian and allied Russian warplanes launched deadly raids on rebel-controlled areas.

Both Russia and Iran back Assad, and say they will help his forces fight back after Aleppo, Syria's second city, fell out of government control.

UN talks aimed at halting the degradation and desertification of vast swathes of land started in Saudi Arabia on Monday after scientists fired a stark warning over unsustainable farming and deforestation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called it a "moonshot moment": a 12-day meeting for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), looking to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid the onslaught of climate change.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Lebanese-American businessman Massad Boulos as his senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, the latest family member to be appointed to a key position.

"I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs," Trump posted on Truth Social of the appointment, which puts his daughter Tiffany's father-in-law in a major White House position.

A Syria war monitor said pro-Turkey fighters seized a strategic northern town from Kurdish forces on Sunday, in fighting parallel to a major rebel offensive elsewhere in Aleppo province.

Pro-Turkey fighters "took control of the town of Tal Rifaat" and a number of villages nearby, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, warning that around 200,000 Syrian Kurds in north Aleppo province have been "besieged by pro-Turkey factions".

Communications have been cut in Kurdish-majority areas, the monitor said, raising fears of possible "massacres" of Kurds.

The White House is working on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza but is "not there yet," the US National Security Advisor told NBC on Sunday, with fighting in the conflict raging on as regional leaders meet to discuss the crisis.

"We are working actively to try to make it happen. We are engaged deeply with the key players in the region, and there is activity even today," said Jake Sullivan, according to a transcript released by the broadcaster.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sought to shore up support from his allies Sunday, after a monitor said a shock rebel offensive saw government forces lose control of Aleppo for the first time since the start of the country's civil war.

An Islamist-dominated rebel alliance attacked forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government on Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah after two months of all-out war.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has halted the delivery of aid through the key Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza because of safety fears, its chief said Sunday.

"The road out of this crossing has not been safe for months. On 16 November, a large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini posted on X.

"Yesterday, we tried to bring in a few food trucks on the same route. They were all taken," he added, warning hunger was "rapidly deepening" in Gaza.