The highest-ranking Syrian military official to be tried in Europe on Monday appeared before a Stockholm court accused of war crimes during Syria's civil war.

Former brigadier general Mohammed Hamo, 65 who lives in Sweden, is accused of "aiding and abetting" war crimes and could get a life jail sentence.

The war between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and armed opposition groups, including Islamic State, erupted after the government repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Saint Levant, the Palestinian-French-Algerian-Serbian rapper who's found viral fame online, made his Coachella debut over the weekend, bringing eminently danceable beats and Palestinian solidarity to the stage.

The 23-year-old played a set scheduled for a time conflicting with the highly anticipated No Doubt reunion but still packed the desert festival's Gobi Tent, where he played both his hits and newer work to a sea of fans, many sporting keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags.

Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles marked the culmination of a tense two weeks in which Washington engaged in whirlwind efforts to prepare for the expected violence.

American aircraft and planes downed dozens of drones and missiles when Iran launched the attack on Saturday, after Tehran repeatedly threatened to hit back in response to an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus that killed two top officers at the beginning of the month.

In his spartan home in Israel's Negev desert, Mohamed Hassouna points to the spot where his seven-year-old daughter Amina was seriously wounded by a fragment of a projectile during Iran's attack on Israel.

Amina, the only badly injured person recorded in Israel in this unprecedented attack by Tehran, was placed in intensive care with a serious head injury, said the Soroka hospital in the city of Beersheva.

Israel and Iran accused one another Sunday at the United Nations of being the main threat to peace in the Middle East, each calling on the Security Council to impose sanctions on their sworn enemy.

"The mask is off. Iran, the number one global sponsor of terror, has exposed its true face as the destabilizer of the region and the world," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told an emergency meeting of the Security Council convened after Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel overnight.

Iran's attack on Israel gives Joe Biden a familiar dilemma, but on steroids -- how to balance support for a difficult ally while preventing the nightmare scenario of a wider war?

Tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's war on Gaza were papered over as the US president offered "ironclad" support, including shooting down Iranian drones.

But the White House said it would not support an Israeli counterattack and warned Israel to "think carefully" about escalation that could trigger a full-blown regional conflict.

Thousands of Gazans flooded the coast road north on Sunday after hearing that several people managed to cross a closed checkpoint towards Gaza City, despite Israel denying it was open.

An AFP journalist saw mothers holding their children's hands and families piling onto donkey carts with their luggage as they made the journey.

They hoped to cross a military checkpoint on Al-Rashid road south of Gaza City, but the Israeli army told AFP that reports the route was open were "not true".

The United States said Sunday it will not join any Israeli counterattack on Iran, with President Joe Biden warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "think carefully" about any escalation.

The White House said Biden did not want a wider war after helping key ally Israel repel a massive aerial attack by Tehran -- itself in retaliation for a presumed Israeli strike that killed an Iranian general in Damascus.

Iranians were torn between a fear of war and pride at Iran's military capabilities, after Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel in retaliation for the deadly strike on its Damascus consulate.

"It is normal to be worried in this situation, whether from a social or economic point of view," said 47-year-old Jafari, an employee with Iran's judiciary who did not give his full name.

"But the fact that Iran has been able to reach this level of special ability... is a matter of pride," he told AFP in downtown Tehran.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of undermining negotiations for a truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal, although the talks have not collapsed.

On Saturday, while Hamas-backer Iran was preparing to launch hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly Damascus strike, the Palestinian militant group announced that it had delivered its response to the latest ceasefire proposal.