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Thousands of Australians joined pro-Palestinian rallies on Sunday, organisers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the centre-left government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Reuters reported.

More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Reuters.

In Sydney, organiser Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to "demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel" as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted "free, free Palestine".

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia's Jews, told Sky New television that the rallies created "an unsafe environment and shouldn't be happening".

Syria's first parliamentary election under its new Islamist administration, scheduled for September, will not include the southern province of Sweida and two other provinces due to security concerns, the electoral commission said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Hundreds of people were reported killed in July in clashes in Sweida pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces were sent to the city to quell the unrest.

Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said were mass killings of Druze by government troops.

The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and there is longstanding tension between the communities over land and other resources, according to Reuters.

Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city, Reuters reported.

Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighbourhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area, according to Reuters.

It added that the operation there "enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas."

U.S. protectionism is undermining agricultural cooperation with China, Beijing's ambassador to Washington said, warning that farmers should not bear the price of the trade war between the world's two largest economies, Reuters reported.

"It goes without saying that protectionism is rampant, casting a shadow over China-U.S. agricultural cooperation," said Xie Feng, according to the transcript of a speech published by the Chinese embassy on Saturday.

Agriculture has emerged as a major point of contention between China and the U.S. as the superpowers are locked in a tariff war launched by President Donald Trump.

China in March slapped levies of up to 15% on $21 billion worth of American agricultural and food products in retaliation for sweeping U.S. tariffs. Washington and Beijing this month extended a trucefor 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods, according to Reuters.