US President Donald Trump said Thursday a nuclear deal with Iran was close that would avert military action, as he toured Gulf capitals, securing $1.4 trillion in 10-year investments from Abu Dhabi.

Trump made the Iran remarks in Qatar before flying on to the United Arab Emirates for the third and final leg of the tour that began in Saudi Arabia.

The UAE vowed to invest $1.4 trillion in the US economy over 10 years, the latest in a raft of multi-billion pledges and deals secured during Trump's Gulf tour, which also saw Washington lifting decades-long sanctions on Syria.

Ben Cohen, co‑founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and a longtime progressive activist, told AFP he was speaking for millions of Americans outraged by the "slaughter" in Gaza after his removal from a US  Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Cohen, 74, was among a group of protesters who startled Health Secretary  Robert F Kennedy Jr. by interrupting his testimony about his department's budget proposal.

Palestinians on Wednesday commemorated their displacement during the creation of Israel, saying that history was being repeated today in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza and an aid blockade threatens famine, while Israeli leaders continue to express a desire to empty the territory of Palestinians as part of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

In the West Bank, too, occupied since 1967, Israeli forces have displaced tens of thousands from refugee camps as part of a major military operation.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Qatar Airways had placed a "record" order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar's emir.

The order, Boeing's largest ever for its wide-body jets, deepens ties between the US aerospace giant and the giant Middle East carrier.

Qatar Airways will honour a "$96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines," according to a White House fact sheet.

After the decision by the Kurdish militant group PKK to disband, Turkey was eyeing Wednesday a raft of legal and technical measures to ensure its full implementation and finally end a four-decade insurgency.

Monday's announcement sought to draw a line under a bloody chapter that began in 1984 when the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms, triggering a conflict that cost more than 40,000 lives.

"What matters most is the implementation," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, pledging to "meticulously monitor whether the promises are kept".

Fresh gunbattles erupted on Wednesday in the Libyan capital between two powerful armed groups, a security official said, a day after authorities declared the fighting over.

Clashes flared between the Radaa force and the 444 Brigade in key areas of the city, including the port, the source said.

Fighting eased towards the end of the day, according to television reports and residents who spoke to AFP, with some bakeries opening but schools remaining shut.

US President Donald Trump voiced hope on Wednesday that diplomatic efforts would succeed on Iran's nuclear programme, even as he vowed rigorous enforcement of sanctions.

Trump, on his first visit to the Middle East since returning to the White House, said he spoke about Iran with the leader of Qatar, which maintains relations with both longtime adversaries.

"It's been really an interesting situation. I have a feeling it's going to work out," Trump said of Iran after talks with the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Over 20 foreign nationals who themselves endured years of captivity in Iran on Wednesday urged Sweden to step up efforts to free a Swedish-Iranian citizen sentenced to death in the country, after he had a heart attack last week.

Ahmadreza Djalali, an academic who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges he denies, suffered a heart attack in Tehran's Evin prison, his wife said Friday.

The sound of fireworks and applause rang out in Syria's major cities overnight, as Syrians celebrated US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions on the devastated country.

In Syria's second city Aleppo, dozens of men, women and children took to the central Saadallah al-Jabiri Square, waving the new Syrian flag and singing.

Hours earlier in Riyadh, Trump announced he would lift sanctions on Syria, as the country seeks to rebuild after the December ouster of longtime president Bashar al-Assad.

Gaza rescuers said at least 80 people were killed in Israeli bombardment across the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to US envoy Steve Witkoff about the release of hostages.

Negotiations for the release of the captives held in Gaza have been ongoing, with the latest talks taking place in the Qatari capital Doha, where US President Donald Trump was visiting on Wednesday.

Netanyahu's office said the premier had discussed with Witkoff and his negotiating team "the issue of the hostages and the missing".