Israel on Sunday proposed a compromise deal allowing residents of an illegal West Bank outpost that the high court has ordered evacuated to stay in their homes while new ones are constructed nearby.

The High Court of Justice has ordered the government to demolish the Migron outpost, which was established on private Palestinian land and without government authorization, by the end of March 2012.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli army patrol near the West Bank city of Ramallah overnight, an Israeli military spokeswoman said on Sunday.

"During a routine patrol during the night, shots were fired by Palestinians at a military vehicle near Ramallah without causing injuries. The vehicle was lightly damaged," she told Agence France Presse

About 200 Palestinians staged a demonstration on Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah against the exploratory talks with Israel being held in Jordan.

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have held three such meetings in Amman this month in a bid to restart direct peace talks which have been on ice since September 2010, but without any concrete results.

Egyptian border police shot dead two African migrants and wounded a third as they tried to cross illegally into Israel early Saturday, security officials said.

Border police spotted the man and woman, whose nationality remains unknown, as they tried to climb over barbed wire along the frontier and fired on them after they refused to heed calls to stop.

The lawyer defending Hosni Mubarak told the court on Saturday that there is not a shred of evidence linking the ousted Egyptian strongman to a controversial gas deal with Israel.

Farid al-Deeb said Egypt's spy agency negotiated the 2005 deal in line with international norms.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who survived a 1997 Israeli assassination bid, has confirmed he wants to step down after eight years in post, the Islamist movement said on Saturday.

"Political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal has notified Hamas's consultative council that he does not wish to be a candidate for the movement's future leadership," a statement said.

U.S. military chief General Martin Dempsey on Friday urged Israel to keep the channels of communication open amid concerns the Jewish state could launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Speaking after talks with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on what was his first visit to Israel since taking office last October, Dempsey said both sides would benefit from greater engagement over regional issues, in an apparent reference to the Iranian nuclear standoff.

Thailand said Thursday that it has recognized a Palestinian state, in a move hailed by Palestinian leaders eager to boost their international standing amid a stalemate with Israel.

Thailand has "officially recognized the state of Palestine and officially informed all permanent and observer missions to the United Nations in New York of this development," a press officer for Thailand's mission said.

The Israeli army on Thursday arrested the Palestinian parliamentary speaker, Hamas member Aziz Dweik, in the West Bank, a senior colleague told Agence France Presse.

Dweik was detained by soldiers at a checkpoint in Jabaa, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, as he was traveling to Hebron in the southern West Bank, the leader of the cabinet, Bahaa Youssef, told AFP.

The Israeli army has changed its operational assessment “regarding the threat from Lebanon and is currently working under the assumption that Hizbullah has obtained sophisticated long-range surface-to-air missile systems from Syria,” the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

“According to Western intelligence assessments, Hizbullah is believed to have taken advantage of the ongoing upheaval in Syria to obtain advanced weapons systems, such as additional long-range rockets as well as Russian-made air-defense systems,” TJP said.