The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on its citizens traveling to Lebanon that was imposed during a diplomatic row in 2021, according to a joint statement on Thursday.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat has urged members of the minority community in Syria to reject "Israeli interference" following Israeli threats against Damascus authorities if they harm the Druze.

"Preserving the (Druze) brothers (in Syria) involves rejecting Israeli interference," Jumblat said following a meeting with Druze figures in Beirut to discuss sectarian violence that erupted in Syria this week.

Syria said Israel launched new strikes near Damascus on Wednesday, after sectarian clashes left nearly 40 dead in two days and Israel warned against attacks targeting the Druze minority.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that three aircraft from Italy and Croatia were due to arrive in Israel soon to help fight fires near Jerusalem.

"It has so far been agreed that three 'Canadair' aircraft from Italy and Croatia will arrive in Israel as soon as possible," a statement from the premier's office said, following a situational assessment to advance international assistance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel carried out a strike in Syria on Wednesday on an "extremist group" preparing to attack members of the Druze community in the Damascus region.

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that it had foiled a weapons shipment intended for the Sudanese army, which has accused the Gulf state of backing rival paramilitaries in the country's two-year war.

"The security services succeeded in preventing the transfer of a quantity of military equipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces following the arrest of members of a cell involved in unauthorized mediation, brokering and illicit trafficking of military equipment," UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said according to official news agency WAM.

The eurozone economy expanded more than expected in the first quarter, official data showed on Wednesday, despite the uncertainty created by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The EU's official data agency said the 20-country single currency area recorded growth of 0.4 percent over the January-March period from the previous quarter, higher than the 0.2 percent forecast by analysts for Bloomberg.

Britain said Wednesday it had carried out air strikes on buildings in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to produce drones in a joint military operation with the United States.

"UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, adding that the strike took place at night about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital Sanaa.

Iran on Wednesday executed a man convicted of espionage for Israel's Mossad spy agency and involvement in the 2022 assassination of a Revolutionary Guards colonel, the judiciary said.

Mohsen Langarneshin, described as "a high-ranking spy" who supported Mossad operations inside Iran, was hanged in the morning, the judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported.

Syria state media said Wednesday that 13 people had been killed in clashes that erupted overnight between security forces and "outlaw groups" near Damascus, as sectarian violence a day earlier spread.

"The number of dead after outlaw groups targeted civilians and security forces" in the Sahnaya area "has risen to 13 dead and a number of wounded", state news agency SANA said, citing a health ministry statement, without elaborating on the identity of those killed.