An international stabilization force promised for Gaza has yet to materialize three months after it was announced at an event hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The United Nations has doubled down on its pledge to revive stalled negotiations over the disputed Western Sahara in a visit to the region this week in which its top negotiator met with officials on all sides.

Arab leaders are meeting in Algeria at the 31st summit of the Arab League.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is calling for the expansion of new, major diplomatic shifts in the Middle East and North Africa that could upend some of the region's long-standing disputes.

Israel has hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East.

The visit is part of US Defense Secretary Mark Esper's North Africa tour and is his first visit to Africa as defense secretary. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)RABAT – The United States and Morocco on Friday signed an accord that aims to strengthen military cooperation and the North African kingdom's military readiness over the next decade. He also visited Algeria, the first U.S. defense secretary to meet with leaders there since 2006. No deals were known to be signed there, but the U.S. defense secretary reportedly discussed expanding security cooperation and security issues in the Sahel region just south of Algeria. Esper met with Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita upon his arrival Friday.