Russia said Wednesday it was "deeply concerned" after Israel's top court ruled that a Jewish settler group legally purchased an east Jerusalem property from the Greek Orthodox Church.

Israel is looking to U.S. President Joe Biden's Mideast trip next month to bolster its efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, a country with which it does not have official ties, according to Israel's foreign minister.

Yair Lapid spoke a day after the White House announced the whirlwind trip to Israel and the West Bank followed by a flight to Saudi Arabia. At a news conference in Jerusalem, Lapid was asked about his expectations from Biden's expected stop in the kingdom and first said he didn't want to "steal the show from the president's visit." But he said Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as the wider Middle East, are under threat from Iran's nuclear capabilities.

Egypt, Israel, and the European Union on Wednesday signed a deal to increase liquefied natural gas sales to EU countries, who aim to reduce dependence on supply from Russia as the war in Ukraine drags on.

The deal, stamped in a five-star Cairo hotel, will see Israel sending more gas via Egypt, which has facilities to liquefy it for export via sea, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

Israel marked a major escalation in its years-long campaign of airstrikes in Syria, carrying out an attack last week that shut down the country's main civilian airport in Damascus as Israel steps up efforts to stop Iranian weapons shipments to Hezbollah.

Commercial flights were still halted at Damascus International Airport five days after Friday's pre-dawn airstrikes smashed into its runways, leaving multiple craters, and damaged the air control tower and other buildings.

The European Union wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel in light of Russia's use of gas supplies to "blackmail" its members over the Ukraine conflict, the European Commission chief said.

U.S. President Joe Biden will make history next month with a direct flight between Israel and Saudi Arabia where he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, abandoning efforts to ostracize the oil kingdom's de facto leader over the murder of a dissident.

The White House ended weeks of speculation Tuesday, announcing that Biden will travel to Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13-16.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has visited Kuwait and spoken to the small, oil-rich nation's crown prince, state media reported.

"We are on this necessary tour to reactivate ties of work, cooperation, commonality, solidarity, brotherhood," Maduro said from Kuwait in a televised conversation with his collaborators in Caracas.

Kuwait said Tuesday its 81-year-old crown prince was resting after experiencing what it described as "minor discomfort."

The two-sentence story from the state-run KUNA news agency did not elaborate on what ailed Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official increasingly seen as a successor to the 86-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas, says relations with Israel have gotten so bad that Palestinian leaders cannot go on with business as usual.

But even if they are serious this time around, they have few options. And they appear unlikely to do anything that undermines their own limited power in parts of the occupied West Bank, which largely stems from their willingness to cooperate with Israel.

An Israeli legislator came under fire on Tuesday for saying that if he could push a button to make all Palestinians disappear, he would.

Deputy Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana made the remarks to high school students in a West Bank settlement. In his comments, which were caught on video, he was explaining his view that clashing narratives between Israelis and Palestinians were a major obstacle to peace. He appeared to be making the point that Israelis and Palestinians had no choice but to find a way to live together.