A major pipeline leak has caused oil to gush into the Arava desert in southern Israel, threatening a protected nature reserve, officials said Thursday.

The incident took place just north of the Red Sea resort city of Eilat and 500 meters (yards) from the border with Jordan.

The Lebanese army opened anti-aircraft fire on Thursday at an unmanned plane in central Bekaa, the state-run National News Agency reported.

According to NNA, the Army's Second Artillery Brigade opened anti-aircraft fire at a drone that was flying over the Riyaq military airport.

A Frenchman who killed a young Israeli woman in a hit-and-run accident in Tel Aviv and immediately fled the country, sparking huge outrage, has been sentenced to five years in jail.

Eric Robic, who confessed to being behind the wheel at the time of the 2011 tragedy, was sentenced by a Paris court to five years behind bars while his passenger, Claude Khayat, was sentenced to 15 months late Wednesday.

A civil rights organization based in Israel has filed a legal complaint against the U.S. Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), alleging violations of the U.S. tax code for unlawful political lobbying and contact with Hizbullah, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

Shurat Hadin, the Tel Aviv-based organization, publicized the submission of its 38-page complaint with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday, the daily said.

U.S. lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to pass legislation making Israel a "major strategic partner" of the United States, deepening a bilateral bond that has recently shown signs of strain.

In a voice vote, the House approved the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, which expands cooperation in defense and security, energy, research and development, business, agriculture, water management and academics.

An Israeli local council said Wednesday it will spend millions of dollars beautifying a settlement in east Jerusalem, where mounting Palestinian anger has spilled over into recent clashes.

Jerusalem city council said in a statement it planned to use 50 million shekels ($12.5 million, 10.2 million euros) to fund construction of a park, children's playgrounds, green spaces and new street lighting in Har Homa, as well as football and basketball grounds.

Moscow is ready to host a conference on ridding the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Sudan on Wednesday.

"There should be a conference to remove weapons of mass destruction and put in place an agreement to make the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons," Lavrov said before attending a forum on cooperation between Russia and the Arab League.

A Palestinian teen stabbed two Israelis in a West Bank settlement in "an apparent terror attack" on Wednesday before an off-duty security guard shot him in the leg, police said.

None of the three were reported to have been seriously wounded.

Israel's navy opened fire on fishing boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, seriously wounding a Palestinian, fishermen and medics in the blockaded territory said.

The military said it had no knowledge of any injuries, saying the navy had fired in the air as a warning not to exceed a permitted fishing limit.

Israeli political leaders agreed Wednesday to hold a snap election next March, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambling on a return to power after his ruling coalition collapsed.

Parliament's spokesman said the vote would be held on March 17, after Netanyahu tore apart his fractious coalition government by firing two centrist ministers and calling for the early polls.