Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the Jewish state recognizes South Sudan and wished the world's newest nation "much success."

"Yesterday, a new state was born, South Sudan. I hereby announce that Israel recognizes the Republic of South Sudan," he said. "We wish it much success."

Israel's prime minister said on Wednesday ties were improving with Turkey, as officials worked to patch up relations before the release of a U.N. report on last year's fatal raid on a Gaza flotilla.

Speaking in Bucharest at the start of a trip to Romania and Bulgaria, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and Turkey were looking to heal the breach in relations that followed the killing in May 2010 of nine Turkish activists by Israeli commandos who stormed a convoy looking to run the blockade on Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has blocked plans to hand over to the Palestinians the remains of 84 militants killed since 1967, a statement from his office said early on Tuesday.

Barak's intervention came just hours after the military confirmed the transfer had been recently approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A unilateral Palestinian bid for statehood in September could lead to fresh conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and destabilize the whole region, a senior Israeli politician has warned.

In an interview with Agence France Presse, Shaul Mofaz, who heads the powerful parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said he would urge French leaders not to support the bid during a visit to Paris on Monday.

Israel's security cabinet was to convene on Monday for a second day of discussions on how to stave off an international flotilla intending to breach the naval blockade of Gaza, local media said.

On Sunday, ministers in the forum were told of the military's preparations for the 10-ship convoy which is expected to set sail from Greece later this week.

Hundreds of Israelis gathered near the Gaza border on Saturday at the site where Palestinian militants seized Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a deadly raid five years ago.

The protest was being held to mark five years that Shalit has been in captivity and comes amid mounting international calls for the Islamist Hamas movement to release him or at least provide proof of life.

A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the cases of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and a man suspected of spying for the Jewish state, an airport official said.

Yitzhak Molho was to meet Egyptian officials "to discuss the Shalit issue, the recent spy case and other issues such as the peace process and Egyptian gas exports to Israel," the official told Agence France Presse.

Israel and Turkey have been holding secret talks at several levels to end their diplomatic crisis, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday, quoting a senior Israeli official.

The report, for which there was no confirmation, said an official representing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Feridun Sinirlioglu, undersecretary at the Turkish foreign ministry, were involved in the discussions.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the international community seeks to relaunch peace talks.

Neither side issued a statement after the afternoon discussions, which came after Ashton met earlier in the week with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

An overnight explosion in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya which left four dead, was caused by a gas leak and was not related to any criminal or nationalist issues, police said on Friday.

The blast occurred late on Thursday in centre of the seaside town, flattening a four-storey building and injuring around 65 people, many of whom were sitting in a restaurant on the ground floor.