Washington (AFP) - US anger at new Israeli settlements and Israel's skepticism over American nuclear diplomacy with Iran stirred new discord Wednesday between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they met for White House talks.

Several hours after Netanyahu emerged from the White House after 90 minutes, the White House publicly rebuked the Israelis over a plan for 2,600 new settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu had earlier used a photo-op with journalists in the Oval Office to deliver a broad hint that his government remained concerned about the direction of talks between Iran and world powers on constraining the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

The leaders were meeting for the first time since their subordinates swapped some of the most pointed rhetoric in years between the allies, over the Gaza crisis.

While stressing the "unshakeable" bond between Israel and the United States, Obama and Netanyahu have often struggled to keep their differences on key issues under wraps, and Wednesday was no different.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Washington was "deeply concerned by reports the Israeli government has moved forward" with planning for settlements in a "sensitive area" of east Jerusalem.

He said Israel would send a "very troubling message" by following through with the project and in noticeably blunt language said that the step was contrary to Israel's stated goal of negotiating a permanent final status agreement with the Palestinians.

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The Iranian nuclear power plant of Natanz, pictured on March 30, 2005 (AFP Photo/Henghameh Fahimi)

"This development will only draw condemnation from the international community, (and) distance Israel from even its closest allies," Earnest said.

He added that it would also "poison the atmosphere" -- not only with the Palestinians but with "the very Arab governments" with which Netanyahu has said he wants to build relations.

Obama raised his concerns during the meeting with Netanyahu, Earnest said.

- 'Fervent hope' -

Before the talks, the Israeli leader, who is deeply skeptical of Obama's bid to broker a deal on constraining Iran's nuclear program before a November 24 deadline, delivered a clear signal that Israel is dismayed at the outlines of a possible agreement.

"Iran seeks a deal that would lift the tough sanctions that you worked so hard to put in place and leave it as a threshold nuclear power," Netanyahu said, as he sat next to Obama.

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A Palestinian boy inspects the destruction in his neighborhood following an Israeli military strike …

"I fervently hope that under your leadership that would not happen," Netanyahu told Obama.

Netanyahu had said at the United Nations that Iran was trying to "bamboozle" the world into sealing a nuclear deal that would leave Tehran with the capacity of thousands of centrifuges to enrich uranium.

The nuclear "threshold" is the point at which a nation is considered to have the radioactive material, equipment and know-how to quickly produce a nuclear device, but has not yet taken the decision to do so.

- Thorny issue -

Netanyahu's remarks on Iran highlighted the long-standing disagreement between Israel and the Obama administration on the nuclear talks involving Tehran, the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

Washington wants to extract concessions from Iran -- which says its nuclear program is peaceful -- in exchange for sanctions relief.

But Israel wants a complete dismantling of what it calls Tehran's "military nuclear program" and for Tehran to be left with zero enrichment capacity after a deal.

The US leader has said in the past that such a "perfect" deal is unlikely.

Israel says it reserves the right to take military action against Iran's nuclear program if a deal is not reached to dismantle it.

- 'Change status quo' -

Obama said that he also wanted to discuss the rebuilding of Gaza with Netanyahu following the war with Hamas this year that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, most of them civilians.

"We have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe in their own homes and school children in their schools, from the possibility of rocket fire, but also that we don't have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well," Obama said.

Netanyahu backed Obama's campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, but said the effort to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon was "even more critical."

Islamic State flags flutter on the Mullah Abdullah bridge in southern Kirkuk September 29, 2014. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic State insurgents in Iraq have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used child soldiers in what may amount to systematic war crimes that demand prosecution, the United Nations said on Thursday.

In a report based on 500 interviews with witnesses, also said Iraqi government air strikes on the Sunni Muslim militants had caused "significant civilian deaths" by hitting villages, a school and hospitals in violation of international law.

At least 9,347 civilians had been killed and 17,386 wounded so far this year through September, well over half of them since the Islamist insurgents also known as ISIL and ISIS began seizing large parts of northern Iraq in early June, the report said.

"The array of violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups is staggering, and many of their acts may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein.

In a statement, he called again for the Baghdad government to join the International Criminal Court, saying the Hague court was set up to prosecute such massive abuses and direct targeting of civilians on the basis of their religious or ethnic group.

Islamist forces have committed gross human rights violations and violence of an "increasing sectarian nature" against groups including Christians, Yazidis and Shi'ite Muslims in a widening conflict that has forced 1.8 million Iraqis to flee their homes, according to the 29-page report by the U.N. Human Rights Office and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

"These include attacks directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against women and children, forced recruitment of children, destruction or desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, wanton destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms."

FEMALE "SEX SLAVES"

In a single massacre on June 12, the report said, about 1,500 Iraqi soldiers and security officers from the former U.S. Camp Speicher military base in Salahuddin province were captured and killed by Islamic State fighters.

However, the bodies have not been exhumed and the precise toll is not known. No one disputes that Iraqi military recruits were led off the base near Tikrit unarmed and then machinegunned in their hundreds into mass graves by Islamic State, whose fighters boasted of the killings on the Internet.

Women have been treated particularly harshly, the report said: "ISIL (has) attacked and killed female doctors, lawyers, among other professionals."

In August, it said, ISIL took 450-500 women and girls to the Tal Afar citadel in Iraq's Nineveh region where "150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIL fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves".

Islamic State pushed on with its assault on a Syrian border town on Thursday despite coalition air strikes meant to weaken them, sending thousands more Kurdish refugees into Turkey and dragging Ankara deeper into the conflict.

Islamic State and allied groups have attacked and destroyed places of religious and cultural significance in Iraq that do not conform to its "takfiri" doctrine, the U.N. report said, referring to the beliefs of Sunni militants who justify their violence by branding others as apostates.

But the report also voiced deep concern at violations committed by the Baghdad government and allied fighters, including air strikes and shelling that may not have distinguished between military targets and civilian areas.

(additional reporting by Ned Parker in Baghdad; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia sought to assure the public that the kingdom was safe and free of health scares as an estimated 2 million Muslims streamed into a sprawling tent city near Mecca on Thursday for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage.

[Yahoo Maktoob gallery: Mecca through the years]

Earlier this year, Saudi authorities banned people from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — the countries hardest hit in the Ebola epidemic — from getting visas as a precaution against the virus. The decision has affected a total of 7,400 pilgrims from the three countries.

Ebola is believed to have sickened more than 7,100 people in West Africa and killed more than 3,300, according to the World Health Organization.

The hajj sees massive crowds every year from around the world gather around the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca as part of a five-day spiritual journey meant to cleanse the faithful of sin and bring them closer to God. All male pilgrims dress in simple, white robes as a sign of equality before God.

The kingdom has not discovered a single case of Ebola so far and is taking all measures to ensure the safety and health of the pilgrims, said Manal Mansour, the head of Saudi Health Ministry's department for prevention of infectious diseases.

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Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, during the annual hajj pilgrimage in …

"The most important precaution that (the kingdom) has taken was to restrict visas from the affected areas," she told The Associated Press.

Upon arrival to the kingdom, pilgrims were asked to fill out "medical screening cards with data" and asked about their travels in the past 21 days, Mansour said.

There were other health concerns related to the hajj earlier this year. The kingdom had to improve its anti-infection measures after it was hit by an upswing in the number of people who had contracted a respiratory virus known as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the spring. There have been more than 750 cases of MERS in the kingdom since 2012, of which 319 people died, including several health workers.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, told the AP that the kingdom is also facing continuous threats from terrorists, but is prepared to ensure a safe hajj.

Saudi Arabia and four other Arab countries are taking part in U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida fighters in Iraq and Syria. Militants have vowed revenge.

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FILE - In this Sept. 7, 1954 file photo, Muslims visit the Kaaba, the Sacred House of Allah, during …

Al-Qaida militants launched a series of deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia aimed at toppling the monarchy around a decade ago, though none were directed at Mecca. No major attacks have happened in recent years during the hajj.

"We have confronted al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia and we have defeated them," Al-Turki said. "But of course at the same time being we are still considering the threat, which is a continuous threat, and therefore we have actually enforced our security readiness at all the borders of Saudi Arabia."

Pilgrim Zaid Ajaz Amanea from the United Kingdom said he felt safe.

"I don't have to fear anything from anybody because I'm coming to God's house," he said.

The routes for hajj pilgrims and inside the Grand Mosque housing the Kaaba have thousands of security cameras, many of them hidden. The kingdom says there are some 70,000 security personnel guarding the hajj this year. Saudi's interior minister toured hajj sites to check on their readiness over the weekend.

The state-owned Saudi Gazette newspaper reported that the commander of hajj security forces has warned pilgrims against politicizing the pilgrimage. He said anyone who tries to propagate political views during the hajj, which brings Sunnis, Shiites and Muslims of all schools of thought to Mecca, will be severely punished.

The pilgrimage is a central pillar of Islam and all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform it once in their lives.

Saudi authorities said there are 1.4 million international visitors for the hajj this year. Some 600,000 pilgrims from the kingdom itself are also expected to take part.

On Thursday, pilgrims headed to Mina, about five kilometers (three miles) from Mecca, where they will spend the night in prayer and supplication.

Some pilgrims wore surgical blue masks to be extra careful.

"I'm afraid of the normal flu, I'm not scared of Ebola or anything like that," said Nayef Aboulein, a Saudi pilgrim.

___

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's parliament gave the government new powers Thursday to launch military incursions into Syria and Iraq, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for possible operations against the Islamic State group.

The move opens the way for Turkey, a NATO member with a large and modern military, to play a more robust role in the U.S-led coalition against the Sunni militants. However, Turkey has yet to define what that role might be.

The vote came as the extremists pressed their offensive against a beleaguered Kurdish town along Syria's border with Turkey. The assault, which has forced some 160,000 Syrians to flee across the frontier in recent days, left the Kurdish militiamen scrambling to repel the militants' advance into the outskirts of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.

The assault came despite renewed U.S.-led airstrikes in the area overnight. The United States has been bombing the Islamic State group across Syria since last week and in neighboring Iraq since early August.

Turkey's parliament had previously approved operations into Iraq and Syria to attack Kurdish separatists or to thwart threats from the Syrian regime. Thursday's motion, which passed 298-98, expands those powers to address threats from the Islamic State militants who control a large cross-border swath of Iraq and Syria, in some cases right up to the Turkish border.

Asked what measures Turkey would take after the motion was approved, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said: "Don't expect any immediate steps."

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Syrian Kurdish refugees shield themselves from rain after crossing into Turkey from the Syrian borde …

"The motion prepares the legal ground for possible interventions, but it is too early to say what those interventions will be," said Dogu Ergil, a professor of political science and a columnist for Today's Zaman newspaper.

The motion could allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to use Turkey's territory to safely cross into Syria to help Syrian Kurdish forces there, or permit the deployment of coalition forces' drones, Ergil said.

Turkey could also allow its air base in Incirlik, some 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Syrian border to be used by allied planes or for logistics.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki welcomed the Turkish move and said the U.S. was looking forward to strengthening cooperation between Turkey and the rest of the global coalition seeking to defeat the Islamic State group. She declined to say what specific assistance Turkey might be asked to contribute, saying officials were "now discussing what particular role they may play."

The U.S. envoy tasked with coordinating the global coalition, retired Marine Gen. John Allen, was to meet with officials in Turkey over the next week, Psaki said.

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Syrian refugees from Kobani rest after arriving at the Turkey-Syria border crossing of Murstpinar ne …

Two opposition parties voted against the motion, which comes less than a year before parliamentary elections — a time when the Turkish government is unlikely to take bold military action — and provoked a lively debate among lawmakers.

"Will you be sending the (ground) troops which Obama did not want to send?" opposition legislator Osman Koruturk asked during the debate.

In Syria, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, a senior fighter, said the Kurdish forces were preparing for urban clashes in Kobani in a desperate attempt to repel the militants.

"We are preparing ourselves for street battles," Hasan said. "They still haven't entered Kobani, but we are preparing ourselves."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group tracking the Syrian conflict, reported that Islamic State fighters were, in some cases, just hundreds of yards from Kobani on its eastern and southeastern side. The militants were about a mile away on the southern side of town.

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Smokes rise after a mortar shell landed in the south of the city center of Syrian Kurdish town of Ko …

In a statement, the Observatory said it had "real fears" that the militants would storm Kobani and "butcher civilians remaining in the city."

Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syria's Kurdish region, said Islamic State fighters were sporadically shelling Kobani as they fortified their positions on the outskirts of town.

"It seems they are getting ready for a long battle," Haj Mansour said of the jihadi fighters. "Inside Kobani, forces are getting ready to repel the group in case there is an attack."

Haj Mansour said some civilians still remained in the town, and predicted the Islamic State group would face a more difficult time once fighting moves inside Kobani, where the Kurdish forces know its terrain and can launch house-to-house guerrilla warfare.

On Thursday, U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out four airstrikes against Islamic State targets inside Syria, including one that destroyed a militant checkpoint near Kobani, the U.S. Central Command said. Others struck targets north of Sinjar Mountain, west of Raqqah and east of Aleppo, it said.

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Turkish soldiers check documents of refugees as thousands of new Syrian refugees from Kobani arrive …

Islamic State militants also launched an assault Thursday on the western Iraqi town of Hit, military spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said. The attack started at dawn when the militants, using at least three suicide bombers, struck checkpoints at the town's entrances, causing casualties among the security forces, al-Moussawi said.

The battle over Hit in Anbar province, 85 miles west of Baghdad, came as Iraqi Kurdish security forces, known as peshmerga, managed to dislodge the militants from the northwestern Iraqi towns of Rabia, Zumar and Mahmoudiyah, with the assistance of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

U.S. Central Command said late Thursday that coalition aircraft, including those from Britain, took part in airstrikes around Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi and Sinjar.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy said a Marine who ejected from a plane over the Persian Gulf on Wednesday was "presumed lost at sea," marking the first reported U.S. fatality from the operation against the Islamic State group. The Marine, whose name was withheld pending notification of family, was deployed aboard the USS Makin Island, which is supporting military operations against the extremist group in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey had been reluctant to join its NATO allies in a coalition against the militants, citing worries about the safety of Turkish hostages held by the group, but reversed its decision after the hostages were released last month.

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Smokes rise after a mortar shell landed in the south of the city center of Syrian Kurdish town of Ko …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the creation of a buffer zone inside Syria as well as a no-fly zone to secure Turkey's borders and stem the flow of refugees. He has also called for military training and equipment for the Syrian opposition fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"In the struggle against terrorism, we are open and ready for every kind of cooperation. However, Turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be used for temporary solutions," Erdogan said Wednesday.

"An effective struggle against ISIL or other terror organizations will be our priority," Erdogan said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group. "The immediate removal of the administration in Damascus, Syria's territorial unity and the installation of an administration which embraces all will continue to be our priority."

__

Hadid reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Desmond Butler in Istanbul and Lara Jakes in Washington contributed to this report.