The Biden administration says it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year.

The State Department says it isn't actively reviewing the “foreign terrorist organization” designation of the main Syrian rebel group that overthrew of President Bashar Assad’s government this weekend.

Israel’s government has granted a pro-settlement firebrand authority over planning in the occupied West Bank and lifted red tape on the settlement housing approval process.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend amid a sharp spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence that has alarmed the Biden administration.

The Israeli military says an army officer has been killed in a shootout in the occupied West Bank, while Palestinian officials say two gunmen were killed in the same clash.