The religious owner of a right-wing publisher on Thursday finalized the purchase of one of Israel's leading newspapers, Maariv, despite opposition from much of the daily's staff.

A spokesman for Shlomo Ben-Zvi, who publishes and serves as editor-in-chief of the conservative Makor Rishon newspaper, confirmed the deal.

Egypt and Jordan could annul their peace treaties with Israel if it carries out a preemptive strike against Iran, U.S. officials have warned the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.

Quoting a high-level Israeli official, Yediot Aharonot said Washington had warned the Jewish state that Arab leaders would not be able to control an angry public backlash if Israel were to mount an attack on Iran.

Up to 200 people protested without incident in front of France's embassy in Tehran on Thursday over a French satirical weekly's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

The protesters chanted "Death to France," as well as Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States, as dozens of police deployed around the embassy compound in central Tehran prevented the crowd from approaching.

An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip killed two Hamas fighters near the Egyptian border late Wednesday, the Islamist movement that controls the Palestinian territory said.

The strike, witnessed by an Agence France Presse photographer, hit a car in the town of Rafah on the territory's southern border with Egypt.

Israel's army on Wednesday staged a surprise drill on the country's northern border, the military said, amid tensions over Iran's nuclear drive and the fate of Syria's chemical weapons.

The one-day exercise was ordered by army chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, a military statement said, "in order to examine the competence and preparedness of several units in the army, led by (the) artillery corps."

The Syrian regime had considered supplying chemical weapons to Hizbullah as a war between the party and Israel will “only be good for Syria,” the former head of Syria's chemical arsenal told The Times newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

Major-General Adnan Sillu said he defected from the Syrian army three months ago after being party to top-levels talks about the use of chemical weapons on both rebel fighters and civilians.

Mitt Romney told donors the Palestinians "have no interest whatsoever" in peace with Israel and if elected president he would just kick the issue down the road, a leaked video showed Tuesday.

The Republican White House hopeful had already faced a barrage of criticism over initial excerpts from the May 17 fundraiser in which he writes off Democratic voters as "victims" that are beyond his help.

Shahira Abu Ardeini lost her husband, sister and pregnant cousin in a massacre in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps 30 years ago. She and so many others are still waiting for justice to be done.

"There was no moon that night, so they lit up the sky with flares," said Abu Ardeini, aged 53, her dark eyes framed in deep wrinkles that speak volumes of her pain.

One of three long-term Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli detention has been moved to a hospital intensive care unit suffering from a drop in blood sugar, a spokeswoman for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners Club said on Monday.

Amani Sarahna said that Samer Barq, one of three prisoners on hunger strike for weeks to demand their release from detention without trial, was placed in intensive care at Assaf Harofeh medical centre, in central Israel, early on Monday evening.

The gap between Israel and the United States on Iran widened Sunday as Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on a "red line" from Washington, claiming Tehran is "90 percent" toward having a nuclear bomb.

The Israeli leader, speaking on two U.S. political television talk shows, pressed the need for a categorical bar on Iran, saying such a safeguard had averted nuclear calamity with Russia during the Cold War and could ensure peace again.