US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was now time for Syria to move forward.
"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh.
"It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off," Trump said, "Good luck Syria, show us something very special," he added.
The United States imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, and had kept them in place since he was toppled from power in December after more than 13 years of war.
Saudi Arabia has been a leading voice calling for the sanctions to be lifted.
Trump's latest announcement is a huge boost for interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he seeks to stabilise a country shattered by war.
Two sources from the Syrian presidency said Sharaa would travel to Riyadh to meet Trump.
A Palestinian teen has been shot dead during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Some 287 candidates will be considered for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Thursday, with US President Donald Trump likely to be among the nominees.
At least 17 migrants have died, and nine are missing after their boat broke down and drifted for eight days in the Mediterranean Sea, Libya's Red Crescent and Libyan security sources said on Wednesday.
Israel has begun taking control of aid ships bound for Gaza far from Israeli shores, Israeli army radio cited an Israeli source as saying on Wednesday.