A new Israeli bill targeting leftwing NGOs has prompted comparisons with the climate of hatred two decades ago and drawn criticism from rights groups, Washington and the European Union.

At the heart of the storm over a bill that the United States has warned could have "chilling" repercussions are long-established leftist Israeli organizations with strong international reputations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself in a bitter election fight in recent days to decide the leader of his party -- even though he was the only candidate.

Netanyahu pushed for an early primary vote for his Likud party, less than a year after general elections, in what analysts say was a maneuver to clear out potential rivals.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom will not be welcome in Israel following her call for investigations into the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces and other critical comments, a top Israeli official said Wednesday.

Israel's fiery deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, harshly criticized Wallstrom, calling her comments "a mix of blindness and political stupidity".

A military court in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Wednesday sentenced four Palestinians to death on charges of spying for Israel, a statement and court sources said.

The court said in a brief statement that a 23-year-old man from the Zeitoun area south of Gaza City had been sentenced to death on espionage charges. It did not provide his name.

Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday called for life sentences for two young Jews convicted last year of burning alive a Palestinian teen, part of an upsurge in violence ahead of the 2014 Gaza war.

Prosecutors made the request at a sentencing hearing in a Jerusalem court for the two, who were minors at the time of the chilling attack in which they and a third man snatched Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, from an east Jerusalem street and subsequently killed him.

The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday demanded the Greek government act after two Arab passengers were expelled from an Israel-bound flight, saying the decision to remove the pair was "reminiscent" of apartheid.

Two Arab passengers with Israeli documents were forced off an Aegean Airlines flight before it set off from Athens on Sunday after Israeli Jews protested about their presence.

The tensions that erupted between Hizbullah and Israel on Monday will not lead to a major conflict between the two sides, assured security sources to al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday.

Sources close to the party added however that “once Hizbullah vows that it will retaliate to an Israeli assault, then it will fulfill it.”

Turkey must accept that it needs Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday, as the two countries seek to thrash out a deal on normalizing ties.

NATO member Turkey was a key regional ally of Israel until the two countries fell out over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos in 2010 of a Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, bound for Gaza.

Israeli security forces pressed Saturday a manhunt for the gunman who killed two people and wounded seven others at a Tel Aviv pub, as the motive for the attack remained unclear.

The New Year's Day shooting on busy Dizengoff Street came amid a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis and days after the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group threatened the Jewish state with violence.

The Israeli air force carried out attacks on Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip early Saturday, Palestinian security sources said, just hours after rockets from the enclave hit southern Israel.

According to the sources, the Israeli strikes targeted four empty facilities ranging from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the south, causing damage but no casualties.