Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party claims in a contentious new campaign ad that a vote for the left in Israel's March election would benefit jihadists from the Islamic State group.

The ad drew fire from the left-wing coalition opposing Likud, the Zionist Union, which accused Netanyahu of "colossal" security failures.

A 14-year-old girl who has become a symbol for Palestinian minors arrested by Israel insisted on Saturday after serving a 45-day sentence that she had been unjustly imprisoned.

"I do not admit to any crime: I was not throwing stones -- I had no knife on me," Malak al-Khatib told Agence France-Presse.

Israel freed on Friday a 14-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl, whose jailing six weeks ago for planning to attack Israelis became a focus for anger over the arrest of children in the occupied territories.

An Agence France Presse photographer in the West Bank town of Tulkarem said Malak al-Khatib was released there and greeted by her parents, relatives and the mayor, before being taken home to Beitin village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

Top author David Grossman announced Thursday he will withdraw from contention for Israel's most prestigious arts and sciences award after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened to remove judges on political grounds.

The premier earlier this week had three of the Israel Prize judges removed, explaining on his Facebook page they were "extremist and anti-Zionist."

Intelligence Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz warned Thursday that Israel could act unilaterally against Iran over its nuclear drive, saying Tehran has failed to make concessions in talks with world powers.

"I won't be too specific but all options are still on the table," Steinitz told reporters.

Firebrand Arab MP Haneen Zuabi, a regular critic of Israel's right-wing government, was banned Thursday from standing in next month's general election.

The elections committee gave no reason for the disqualification, reported on its website, but Zuabi's lawyer Hassan Jabareen said it was because she was deemed "hostile to the Jewish state."

A top U.N. official warned Thursday of another potential conflict in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its blockade and the Palestinians to end in-fighting to avoid further violence.

The United Nations also called for an additional $705 (622 million euros) million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, most of it for Gaza which saw its bloodiest and most destructive war last year.

"As the saying goes: Know the language of your enemy," says Dalal Said, a Palestinian television reporter who is learning Hebrew in a bid to better cover the conflict.

She is one of about 30 journalists taking two hours of Hebrew classes a week at a college in the West Bank city of Ramallah with an emphasis on learning to read Israeli newspapers.

A fierce sandstorm lashed Egypt, Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday, forcing the closure of the Suez Canal and grounding domestic flights in Israel, officials said.

The skyline of Cairo was barely visible as dust blown in from the surrounding desert hung in the air and shrouded the Egyptian capital for a second day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Tuesday he has a "profound disagreement" with President Barack Obama over efforts by the U.S. and world powers to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.

However, he said he is still trying to minimize the impact of the dispute on his country's relations with the United States.