Ireland's foreign minister said Thursday the government was doing all it can to secure the release of a French-Irish citizen held in Iran after his family urged Dublin to intensify talks due to concerns for his health following a hunger strike.

Micheal Martin told a news conference in Dublin that "we're going to do everything we possibly can" to help release Bernard Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant aged 64.

"I think we have been very active in respect of Bernard's situation," he told reporters.

One person was killed and dozens injured Thursday during a stampede outside an Iraqi football stadium hours before the Gulf Cup final, officials said.

Long banned from hosting international football matches, war-torn Iraq had been counting on the Gulf Cup to burnish its image but it had already been forced to apologise for organisational lapses.

The final match was still able to take place Thursday night and ended in an Iraqi victory.

An Arab-Israeli jailed for killing an Israeli soldier was released on Thursday after serving 40 years, officials said, with Israel warning it would not tolerate celebrations glorifying "terror".

Maher Younis was released from Beersheba prison in southern Israel shortly after dawn, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

Younis was convicted in 1983 of the 1980 murder of Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg near Hadera in the north of Israel, on his way home from the occupied Golan Heights. His death sentence was commuted to a 40-year jail term.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians Thursday in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said, with the army saying they responded after being fired upon.

The ministry said Jawad Farid Bawaqna was killed by a bullet to the chest, while Adham Mohammed Bassem Jabareen, 28, was hit in the upper abdomen by Israeli fire.

The Israeli army said that during "counterterrorism activity in the Jenin (refugee) camp, armed Palestinian gunmen fired heavily at the security forces, who responded with live fire".

It added that "hits were identified".

The attack came after sunset in the quiet Iraqi village of Albu Bali when Islamic State group gunmen drove into town and unleashed fire with automatic rifles.

"I heard the shots, I went out and I saw my nephew lying on the ground," recalled Ali Menwar about the deadly violence that shattered the local calm on December 19.

The group of Sunni Muslim extremists "arrived at about 8:15 pm and started firing randomly", said another local from the mainly Shiite village, Abbas Mazhar Hussein, 34.

The cries of camel herder Hamad al-Marri mean nothing to the untrained ear, but his animals respond instantly, gathering behind him to walk together across the Saudi desert.

The mode of communication, known as Alheda'a, was inscribed last month on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, highlighting the deep traditional connection between camels and inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula.

Italy is prepared to allow more Tunisians to reach its shores legally in exchange for greater efforts to cut irregular migration from its North African neighbour, Rome's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Rome wants to cooperate with Tunis to "reduce irregular immigration and boost regular immigration", Antonio Tajani said on his first visit to Tunisia since a far-right government came to power in Italy in October, vowing to stop the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean.

Israel's top court ruled Wednesday that a senior member of premier Benjamin Netanyahu's newly formed government cannot serve as minister due to a recent tax evasion conviction.

Netanyahu's coalition slammed the decision and vowed to push ahead with controversial measures that would weaken the Supreme Court and its power to strike down legislation.

Netanyahu returned to power as prime minister last month at the head of a coalition with extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties following Israel's November 1 election.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted Wednesday that he would bring the date of Turkey's most consequential election in generations forward to May 14 in a bid to catch his rivals off guard.

The announcement sets the stage for a vote that could either extend Erdogan's Islamic style of rule into a third decade or turn the country on a sharply more secular -- and potentially predictable -- course.

Saudi Arabia is working to reduce its reliance on oil exports, Economy Minister Faisal Al-Ibrahim said Wednesday, as the Middle East powerhouse sent one of the largest delegations to the Davos summit to make its case.

Despite its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2060, the country remains hugely dependent on crude oil exports that have powered its growth for decades, raising doubts about its potential for an economic makeover any time soon.