Two Israeli Arabs have been arrested after an unsuccessful bid to join the ranks of the Islamic State jihadist group by passing through Turkey to Syria, security and judicial sources said Thursday.

Adnan Salameh, from Ramleh near Tel Aviv, was arrested at that city's Ben Gurion airport on July 28 after having been expelled from Turkey, the internal security service Shin Bet said.

A Paris beach event celebrating Tel Aviv attracted a handful of visitors but a huge number of journalists, riot police and security guards on Thursday, as well as a much larger "Gaza Beach" protest.

Bemused locals who headed down to "Tel Aviv Sur Seine" had to maneuver through bag checks, security pat-downs and metal detectors to reach the small stretch of sand on the banks of the Seine. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday announced a major deal between his government and a consortium including U.S. firm Noble Energy on natural gas production in the Mediterranean Sea.

The agreement is aimed at ending months of uncertainty and setting a framework for the exploitation of gas discoveries that are expected to bring major new government revenue.

The United States said Tuesday it has intervened in a lawsuit against Palestinian authorities over attacks in Israel that killed and injured Americans, arguing that a high bond could compromise the Palestinians' financial stability. 

A U.S. jury in February found the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) liable for the six attacks between 2002 and 2004, which killed 33 people and wounded more than 390 others. 

Israel's supreme court overturned Tuesday a provision of a law that would have allowed illegal immigrants to be held for up to 20 months without trial, judicial sources said.

The law, passed in December, stipulated that anyone entering Israel illegally can be held at Saharonim prison for up to three months before being transferred to Holot detention center for a total of up to 20 months.

Israel police questioned Tuesday a Jewish extremist leader who condoned torching churches amid an uproar over recent hate crimes, including the deadly firebombing of a Palestinian home.

Benzi Gopstein, who heads far-right group Lehava, has not been linked to any recent attacks, but his comments regarding churches came at a time of heightened sensitivity over Jewish extremism and drew outrage from Roman Catholic officials.

The body in charge of Roman Catholic properties in the Holy Land has called for legal action against a Jewish extremist group and its leader after he condoned burning churches.

"The danger and threats to the Church and to Christians in Israel are imminent," the Custodian of the Holy Land wrote in a plea to Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein seen by AFP on Monday.

Israel moved a Palestinian hunger striker who has not eaten for over 50 days to a different hospital Monday, officials said, sparking concern that authorities are preparing to force feed him.

Alleged Islamic Jihad activist Mohammed Allaan, held without charge since November, was moved after doctors at his hospital in Beersheva objected to carrying out blood tests against his will, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said.

A French councilor on Monday slammed a decision to dedicate one day of the beach festivities in Paris to Tel Aviv, saying it sent "a very bad message" of support for Israel's policies.

Every summer, the French capital turns the banks of the Seine into a makeshift beach known as Paris Plages and has this year devoted each day to a famous beach around the world.

Israel has released all suspects detained in raids as part of a probe into the firebombing of a Palestinian home that killed an 18-month-old child and his father, authorities said Monday.

They did not provide the number of those detained in the raids early Sunday in wildcat Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank near the Palestinian village of Duma, where the July 31 firebombing occurred.