Syria said on Saturday the country's main airport in Damascus would resume international flights starting next week after such commercial trips were halted following last month's ousting of president Bashar al-Assad.

"We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from Damascus International Airport from" Tuesday, state news agency SANA said, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.

Gaza's civil defence agency said around 30 people were killed in Israeli bombardments on Friday, as Hamas said indirect negotiations for a truce in the war were set to resume in Qatar later.

The Israeli military said three rockets targeted its territory from the Gaza Strip, the latest in a flurry of launches by militants in the devastated Palestinian territory.

"Friday was a harsh day for the residents of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City, due to the continual Israeli bombardment," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Friday that Lebanon was working to find a solution with Syria, after two security officials said Damascus had imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens.

"Work is underway to resolve the issue of Lebanese citizens being prevented from entering Syria," Mawlawi told AFP.

He said Lebanon's General Security agency was in touch with "the Syrian side" to resolve the issue.

The French and German foreign ministers called for a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria as they visited Damascus Friday for talks with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

France's Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock are the most senior Western diplomats to visit the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

Baerbock told Sharaa that the European Union stood ready to support the transition in Syria but warned that "Europe will not finance new Islamist structures".

In the winding alleys of southern Iran, artist Adel Yazdi has taken it upon himself to turn his rustic old neighbourhood into a cultural and tourist hub through vibrant paintings and carved relief faces.

Narenjestan, a neighbourhood characterised by crumbling, uninhabited houses, is nestled in Shiraz, a southern city celebrated for its historic architecture, lush gardens and revered poets.

"Most of the dilapidated walls in old Shiraz have no historical value," said Yazdi, a bushy-bearded, bespectacled 40-year-old artist who has dedicated himself to revitalising Narenjestan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised Israeli negotiators to continue talks in Doha on a hostage release, his office said Thursday, after Israel and Hamas traded blame for their slow progress.

Indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have taken place in Doha in recent weeks, rekindling hope for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement that has so far proven elusive.

But late last month the two sides accused each other of throwing up roadblocks, again delaying a deal.

UN experts on Thursday denounced Israel's raid on an embattled hospital in northern Gaza, demanding an end to the "blatant assault" on health rights in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Reiterating charges that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza -- something the Israeli government strongly denies -- two independent United Nations rights experts said they were "horrified" by the raid last Friday on Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza's last functioning major hospital.

Iran held rallies in its major cities Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in neighbouring Iraq.

Demonstrators in Tehran chanted "Down with America" and "Down with Israel" as they held up photographs of the slain general.

Attending the rally at the capital's Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque, President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to "neutralise the enemy's sinister schemes to create discord among Muslims."

The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that dozens of its troops were flown into Syria in September to destroy an underground missile factory funded by Iran.

The military, which rarely comments on its activities inside Syria, said in a statement that the September 8 raid involved more than 100 Israeli commandos who dismantled the facility in the Masyaf area near the Mediterranean coast.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported at the time that 27 people were killed in the raid. The Israeli military did not disclose any casualty figures.

Israel struck a declared humanitarian zone in southern Gaza overnight, which rescuers on Thursday said killed the head of the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run police force, his deputy and nine others.

Gaza's civil defence agency said two other Israeli strikes elsewhere in the territory later on Thursday killed 14 Palestinians.

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out the overnight strike on the area of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, which it said targeted deputy police chief Hussam Shahwan over his alleged role in planning attacks against Israeli troops.