A senior Israeli minister on Thursday accused Turkey's prime minister of blocking a compensation deal for those killed in a 2010 raid on an aid flotilla by demanding Israel end the Gaza blockade.

Israel and Turkey have been locked in 11 months of talks over compensation for nine Turkish nationals killed in a deadly Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in May 2010, with officials on both sides recently confirming they were close to a deal.

U.S. President Barack Obama will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks on Iran and U.S. Middle East peace moves on March 3, the White House said Wednesday.

Israel had previously announced the Israeli leader would travel to Washington the day before the talks for a visit which also includes a speech to the annual conference of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group.

The Israeli authorities have blocked 70 patients from Gaza from entering Israel to receive medical treatment because their transfer documents were marked "State of Palestine", officials told AFP on Wednesday.

Until recently, official stationery has used the term "Palestinian territories".

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is likely to become Egypt's next president, headed to Russia accompanied by Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation, the army said.

Field Marshal Sisi, who is also Egypt's defense minister and deputy prime minister, and Fahmy would hold "2+2" talks with their Russian counterparts, army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement.

Israel's top court ordered Tuesday new municipal elections in the country's largest Arab city after a close vote there and in another city rife with religious tensions after fraud suspicions.

The High Court decision, seen by Agence France Presse, said residents of the northern city of Nazareth must vote again after incumbent mayor Ramez Jaraiseh beat Ali Salem by only nine votes in an October poll.

Israel's fraud squad recommended Tuesday that former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger be charged with taking bribes, money laundering and other crimes.

Metzger stepped down on July 24 after 10 years in office. He had been arrested the previous month and questioned in connection with the investigation, but was released without charge.

Israel's foreign minister said Tuesday that Iran's claim to have tested two new missiles proved it was still a "warmongering" state despite its recent diplomatic overtures to the West.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's remarks came on the eve of an official visit to France, which is taking part in talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program set to resume next week in Vienna.

An Arab Israeli has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of travelling to Syria and receiving training with the al-Qaida affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

According to the court ruling seen by Agence France Presse on Tuesday, Abdel Kader al-Taleh, 27, from the Arab village of Taibe in northern Israel, was convicted of "entering an enemy territory" and "illegal training for combat."

Suspected militants blew up a gas pipeline in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Tuesday and gunmen shot dead a policeman in the Suez canal city of Ismailia, security officials said.

Attacks in the Sinai and violence targeting soldiers and policemen across Egypt have surged since the military's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.

Israel carried out two air strikes overnight Monday in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, but caused no casualties, Palestinian security sources said.

The first raid targeted a training camp of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.