Syria's interim president has issued a call for peace and national unity as his forces battle a pro-Assad uprising. In Gaza, Hamas has expressed confidence regarding the second phase of the ceasefire deal.

Syrian leader Ahmed Sharaa scrambled on Sunday (March 9) to contain some of the deadliest violence in 13 years of civil war, pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country's new Islamist rulers.

The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 600, a war monitoring group said Saturday.

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US hostage envoy defends talks with terror group, says deal possible in weeks * Foreign minister tells Europeans to 'wake up' on ties with Syria after Alawites massacred * Iran open to nuclear weaponi

Israel carried out an air strike in northern Gaza on Sunday, rattling an already fragile ceasefire as fresh talks in Doha are set to take place on Monday. Israel's military said the air strike targeted Hamas terrorists who "were identified operating in proximity to IDF troops and attempting to plant an explosive device in the ground in northern Gaza.