Desperate survivors sought refuge in the airport near Turkey's quake disaster zone on Tuesday, as hundreds of rescuers from more than 70 countries landed in the country.
As the search for survivors enters a critical phase, teams from Britain, Qatar and Israel were arriving at Gaziantep airport -- near the epicentre of Monday's devastating quake that left more than 7,800 dead and many still trapped in the rubble.
The United States said Tuesday it was working with partners to provide earthquake relief in Syria but would stand firm against working with the Damascus government.
The United States also said it expected to send further assistance to Turkey after sending two rescue teams to the NATO ally, which suffered heavily as well in Sunday's earthquake.
"In Syria itself we have US-funded humanitarian partners that are coordinating lifesaving assistance," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters as he met his Austrian counterpart.
Umm Ibrahim was anxiously waiting for news of her seven children trapped since Monday under the rubble in Syria's second city, after a powerful earthquake that has killed thousands.
Rescuers in Aleppo, Syria's pre-war commercial hub battered by years of conflict, scoured for survivors in the biting winter cold Tuesday as residents buried their dead.
"I haven't been able to eat or drink," said Umm Ibrahim, 56, from the northern city, hit hard by the 7.8-magnitude pre-dawn quake that struck neighbouring Turkey.
"How could I, when my children are hungry underground?"
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday pledged $100 million to Syria and Turkey, one of the largest sums yet following a massive earthquake that has killed thousands.
Fellow Gulf country Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2012, also said it would provide assistance.
The oil-rich UAE -- which had already pledged some $13.6 million to Syria -- is spearheading regional relief efforts, having dispatched planes to both countries with relief items and rescue teams following the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck early Monday.
The health of Bernard Phelan, a French-Irish prisoner in Iran who last month suspended a dry hunger strike, is deteriorating, his sister told AFP on Tuesday.
Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant, was arrested in October while travelling and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
His eyesight has started to fail, Caroline Masse-Phelan said in a written statement.
Her brother has entered his fifth month of detention in the Islamic republic where he is accused of anti-government propaganda, a charge he denies.
An earthquake that has killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and its southern neighbour Syria is proving a diplomatic headache for those seeking to channel aid to Syrians.
Still gripped by more than a decade of civil war, Syria is divided into areas controlled by the government under President Bashar al-Assad, for years a pariah for the West; rebel-held regions dominated by jihadists or pro-Turkish factions; and a swathe of land held by semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities.
The devastating earthquake around the Turkish-Syrian border struck an area that is home to millions of refugees already battling desperate circumstances.
The United Nations said Tuesday that it was trying to reach refugees affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake, though its existing aid programmes are woefully underfunded.
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Trailblazer Sally Azar is hoping that her role as the Holy Land's first Palestinian woman pastor will inspire other women to reach for influential positions in religious and political life.
Wearing her clerical collar and with clasped hands before an altar at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, Azar recounted the "indescribable moment" she was ordained.
"It was a special moment and I really appreciated the support, the big support that was there from all around the world," said the 26-year-old.
Extended family members pulled a newborn baby alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after finding her still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother, who died in Monday's massive quake, a relative said.
The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindayris, Khalil al-Suwadi said.
"We heard a voice while we were digging," Suwadi told AFP Tuesday.
Iran's army on Tuesday unveiled its first underground base for fighter jets designed to withstand possible strikes by US bunker-busting bombs, state media reported.
The base -- named Oghab 44 ("Eagle" in Persian) -- can accommodate "all types of fighter jets and bombers, in addition to drones", the official news agency IRNA said, releasing images and videos from inside the base.
The exact location of the base was not revealed, but state media said it was "at the depth of hundreds of metres under the mountains", and capable of withstanding "bombs by strategic US bombers".
