In their home in war-devastated Gaza City, Iman Farhat and her husband cherish the "paradise" brought by their newly-adopted baby, one of many orphans in the Palestinian territory after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Wrapping five-month-old Jannah in a brightly coloured blanket, Farhat gently sang as she rocked her to sleep.

"I chose Jannah just as she was," the new mother said smiling, explaining the couple simply wanted to adopt a young child without preference for gender or physical appearance.

Iran will not resume negotiations with the United States on its nuclear programme while President Donald Trump applies his "maximum pressure" policy, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP on Friday.

Iran will maintain talks with other negotiators but will not engage with the US under Trump's approach of ramping up sanctions, he said in an interview at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Later on Friday, Trump said he had written to Iran warning it to open negotiations or face a military attack.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he has written to Iran's supreme leader pressing for new talks on its nuclear program, warning of possible military action if not.

Iran's foreign minister told AFP on Friday that his country would not negotiate so long as the United States applies "maximum pressure," but he was not responding directly to Trump's letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Prince Muhammad Ali has left a comfortable life in Paris to fulfil an enduring dream -- return to Egypt, where his grandfather Farouk once ruled as king, hoping to restore the family's legacy.

The 46-year-old businessman told AFP he was delighted to be in the "regained homeland" his family had left when a 1952 military coup ended more than a century of monarchy, bringing Gamal Abdel Nasser to power.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Friday endorsed an Arab League counter-proposal to US President Donald Trump's controversial plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents, two ministers told AFP.

The decision by the 57-member grouping came at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League ratified the plan at a summit in Cairo.

The Egyptian-crafted alternative to Trump's widely condemned takeover proposes to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

Jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah began a hunger strike at the start of the month after his mother was hospitalised more than 150 days into her own hunger strike, his family said on Friday.

Abdel Fattah began refusing food at the Wadi al-Natroun prison "on Saturday, March 1 after hearing news that his mother had been hospitalised" in London, where she has been on hunger strike to put pressure on the British government to secure his release.

On a lush green hilltop on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Carmela Keren Yakuti proudly shows off her home in Dovev, which she fled more than 16 months ago over fears of a Hezbollah attack.

"Now that everyone is back, it's an amazing feeling," said Yakuti, 40, standing on her freshly washed patio and breathing in the crisp country air.

"It's great here. We have a beautiful moshav, a beautiful view," she added, referring to what Israelis call a small agricultural community. "It's simply great to be back home."

Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday urged insurgents from ousted president Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority to lay down their arms and surrender after the fiercest attacks on the war-torn country's new rulers yet.

The warning came as Syria's security forces "executed" 162 Alawites on Friday, according to a Syrian war monitor, in a massive operation in the ethnic group's Mediterranean heartland triggered by deadly clashes with gunmen loyal to Assad the day before.

Hidden behind imposing brick walls in the heart of Tehran, a renovated industrial cellar where decades ago Iranian beer was made has been transformed into a hub for contemporary art.

The ambitious restoration of the derelict Argo factory has made it "one of the most beautiful buildings of Tehran", said architect Nazanin Amirian, visiting the latest exhibition there.

While the former factory with its towering chimney and cavernous cellar has been given a new life, many other historic buildings in the Iranian capital face a grimmer fate.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to finance a joint initiative with the WTA for paid maternity leave of "up to 12 months" for players on the women's tennis circuit, it was announced on Thursday.

The PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program "will offer benefits to more than 320 eligible WTA players", the Women's Tennis Association said in a statement.

"WTA players will for the first time receive paid maternity leave up to 12 months, and have access to grants for fertility treatments to build families, as well as other benefits," it read.