Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, March 22

DAMASCUS -- A total of 13 Syrian soldiers who were kidnapped by the rebels in Damascus' eastern city of Harasta were released on Thursday, as part of an agreement that will see the evacuation of rebels and their families from that area as well as kidnapped Syrian soldiers, according to the state TV. (Syria-Rebels)

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GAZA -- The man behind the failed assassination of Palestinian prime minister last week was arrested in Gaza on Thursday, sources in Hamas-run interior ministry told Xinhua, adding two policemen were killed during the operation. (Gaza-PM-Assassination Attempt)

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JERUSALEM -- Israel's Justice Ministry said Thursday that an investigation has been launched into Facebook's leak of personal information of Israeli users.

The ministry said that the investigation was opened following media reports that data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested information about Facebook users. (Israel-Facebook-Privacy Probe)

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DAMASCUS -- The first batch of Syrian rebels and their families started evacuating the city of Harasta in Damascus' Eastern Ghouta countryside on Thursday, as part of a deal that allows the exit of 1,500 rebels and 6,000 family members.

Several buses carrying 1,540 people, including 420 rebels, left Harasta for the rebel-held areas in Idlib province, a Xinhua reporter at the scene witnessed. (Syria-Evacuation-East Ghouta)

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ANKARA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump have discussed bilateral and regional issues over the phone, Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Thursday.

Kalin refused to disclose details about the phone call, but the two leaders were believed to have discussed the Turkish military operation inside Syria. (Tukey-U.S.-Phone Call) Enditem