Irish lawmakers urged their government Wednesday to recognize Palestine as a state in a symbolic motion that sailed through parliament unopposed.

Ireland's parliament is the fourth European assembly to call for the recognition of Palestinian statehood since October.

Opposition Labor party leader Issac Hertzog and centrist former justice minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday announced an alliance to contest Israel's snap general election in March.

"When we receive the mandate ... I shall serve as prime minister for the first two years and Tzipi Livni will serve as prime minister for the second half" of the four-year term, Hertzog said at a televised news conference.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini demanded an "immediate" inquiry Wednesday into the death of senior Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein during a confrontation with Israeli troops in the West Bank.

"Reports of excessive use of force by Israeli Security Forces are extremely worrying: I call for an immediate, independent investigation into... Abu Ein's death," she said in a statement.

Israeli troops shot and wounded a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the head Wednesday during a clash at Jelazoun refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security officials and medics said.

A U.S. man has been arrested in Israel on suspicion of preparing attacks on Muslims, police said Tuesday.

"Shin Bet (internal security) and police arrested an American citizen on November 19 who was illegally in Israel, for possession of weapons and planning terrorist attacks," a statement said.

A center-left coalition in Israel could oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud from power in a snap election scheduled for March, a poll said Tuesday.

The Israeli military committed war crimes during its Gaza offensive this summer and must be investigated, human rights monitor Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The destruction of four multi-story buildings during the last four days of the 50-day war were in breach of international humanitarian law, the group said in a report.

Israel's parliament on Monday passed into law a bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration after judges quashed two earlier laws as repressive.

The new act determines that anyone entering Israel illegally can be held in Saharonim detention center for up to three months, after which he or she will be moved to another detention facility called Holot for a period of up to 20 months. Both facilities are deep in southern Israel's Negev desert.

Lawmakers in the Israeli parliament on Monday voted to dissolve the assembly and confirmed March 17 as the date for a snap general election.

At the end of a televised debate, members in the Knesset voted 93-0 in favour of a dissolution bill sponsored by opposition parties.

A delegation of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza arrived Monday for talks with Iranian officials on repairing ties, local media reported.

Tasnim news agency said the team was led by Hamas political bureau member Mohammed Nasr and included Ossama Hamdan, who is in charge of international relations.