Visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Friday reaffirmed his country's friendship for Israel in "challenging times" for the region, as tensions mount over the Syrian conflict.

"I want to underline that in these challenging times Germany stands alongside its Israeli partners," Westerwelle said at the start of talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling his host a "dear friend."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the conflict in Syria, the Kremlin said, amid concerns Moscow plans to deliver advanced missiles to the Damascus regime.

"During the meeting an exchange of opinion is planned on key aspects of bilateral ties," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is "fully determined" to try to halt sales by Russia of advanced missiles to Syria when he visits Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, a minister said Sunday.

A reported Russian plan to sell Damascus S-300 missile batteries "worries us at the highest level and the prime minister is fully determined that this contract should not be fulfilled," Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, a member of the security cabinet, told public radio.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, officials said Saturday, amid concerns Moscow may be about to deliver advanced missiles to Syria.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the visit to Agence France Presse, but declined to give details, although he told the Interfax news agency it was being planned for next week.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, during a five day visit that the newly installed Chinese leader said had already "yielded rich fruits".

Netanyahu met Xi after the Israeli leader witnessed with China's Premier Li Keqiang the signing of a series of trade and cultural deals the previous day.

Israeli plans to build 300 new homes in a West Bank settlement near Ramallah prove that Israel is trying to "sabotage" U.S. efforts to revive peace talks, a top Palestinian official said on Thursday.

"We condemn this new decision which is proof that the Israeli government wants to sabotage and ruin the U.S. administration's efforts to revive the peace process," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told Agence France Presse.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank settler homes to avoid hampering U.S. efforts to renew peace talks, army radio reported on Tuesday.

He informed Housing Minister Uri Ariel about the decision several days ago, before his departure for China, the radio said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Syrian conflict, the Kremlin said Monday, after Israel launched air strikes inside Syria.

Putin and Netanyahu discussed the "situation in the region and the situation around Syria," the president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement to Russian news agencies, without giving further details. The Russian foreign ministry had earlier expressed concern over the air strikes.

Turkish and Israeli officials were meeting in Jerusalem on Monday for another round of talks over compensation for the Jewish state's deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, an Israeli official told AFP.

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the negotiations started at midday (0900 GMT) at the ministry's Jerusalem headquarters, although they were being run by officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau.

China on Monday implicitly criticized Israel's air strikes in Syria as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Shanghai for a visit.

The raids on military sites outside Damascus a day earlier, believed to target weapons headed for Lebanon's Hizbullah, raised new fears of Syria's 26-month-long conflict spilling over into the wider region.