Egypt's security forces were on high alert Monday ahead of pro-democracy protests to mark the second anniversary of former president Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a police official told Agence France Presse.

Authorities have boosted security around the presidential palace, the interior ministry and around Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well as around key public installations, the official said.

Israel has given final approval for 90 new homes in Beit El settlement near Ramallah in a move likely to spark tension ahead of a top-level visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials and an NGO said Monday.

Hagit Ofran of the Peace Now settlement watchdog said the plans had been published for validation in an Israeli newspaper in what was the "final stage of approval", meaning construction of the new homes could begin "within a few days."

Palestinian electoral officials on Monday began the long-overdue process of updating voter rolls in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in a key step towards eventual elections, officials said.

"The registration of voters is now beginning in the West Bank and Gaza. We hope accomplishing it will be the first step to ending the division," said Central Elections Commission chief Hanna Nasser in announcing the start of the week-long operation at a news conference in Gaza City.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday tasked his chief of staff to begin consultations with newly elected MPs on a "new mechanism" to choose the next prime minister as part of a democratization drive.

"The king has entrusted royal court chief Fayez Tarawneh to begin consultations with the lower house of parliament as a new mechanism to choose the prime minster and launch the experiment of parliamentary governments," a palace statement said.

U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met Sunday in Cairo with Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib and urged him to keep seeking dialog with the Damascus government, the U.N. said.

Brahimi met with Khatib and the vice president of the National Coalition, Riad Seif.

Several tense confrontations have broken out in the past week between residents of largely rebel-held northwestern Syria and hardline Islamist insurgents, witnesses said on Sunday.

A number of such altercations took place around Atme in Idlib province, where the residents generally support the hardline al-Nusra Front group, who are spearheading attacks against forces of President Bashar Assad.

Opposition forces have struggled to carve out an identity ever since Tunisia's post-revolution elections brought Islamists to power at a time of disunity between secular parties.

The assassination on Wednesday of leftist opposition leader Chokri Belaid has thrown up an opportunity to close ranks but it "may be seized or squandered," said Kamel Laabidi, founder of Vigilance for Democracy and Civil State, an NGO.

The Israeli defense ministry on Sunday confirmed it had given the green light for the construction of 346 new settler homes in two settlements in the southern West Bank, a statement said.

"The defense ministry has approved plans for 200 housing units in Tekoa and 146 housing units in Nokdim," the ministry said.

Syrian rebels launched fierce assaults on regime troops in several parts of the country Sunday, including near Deir Ezzor where they used tanks to shell an army brigade, a watchdog and activists said.

The rebels used tanks to shell Brigade 113 just north of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, which they have surrounded for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Iran's nuclear ambitions, Syria and the peace process with the Palestinians will top U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda on his upcoming visit to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

Last week, the White House said Obama would make his first visit to Israel as president on a trip likely to take place next month. It would also include stops in the Palestinian territories and Jordan.