Israeli lawmakers approved the formation of a unity government between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his erstwhile rival Benny Gantz Thursday, paving the way to an end to more than a year of deadlock.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles at sites in southern Syria overnight, Syrian state media reported early Friday, days after similar air strikes were blamed on Israel.

A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank late Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry announced.

The United States and Israel have scrapped the remainder of their joint military exercise Juniper Cobra 20 over the coronavirus outbreak, the US European Command based in Germany said Thursday.

Israelis were voting for a third time in 12 months on Monday, with embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to end the country's political crisis and save his career.

Israel has ended its ban on Palestinian agricultural exports after the Palestinian Authority lifted its curb on calf imports from Israeli livestock farmers, the defence ministry said Thursday, seemingly resolving a months-long trade dispute.

It might have seemed to be one of the more innocuous elements in President Donald Trump's deeply divisive Middle East peace initiative: the suggestion that a densely populated Arab region of Israel be added to a future Palestinian state, if both sides agree.

Instead, the proposal has infuriated many of Israel's Arab citizens, who view it as a form of forced transfer. They want no part in the Palestinian state envisioned by the Trump administration, with many comparing it to the areas set aside for black South Africans as part of the apartheid government's policy of racial segregation.

A Palestinian wounded in clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Jenin has died of his injuries, bringing to two the number killed on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday in response to new rocket fire from the blockaded territory, the army said.

Israeli forces struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for a second consecutive day Thursday, the army said, saying it was in response to incendiary balloons launched from the strip.