McDonald's Israel, a franchise of the American fast food chain, has rejected an offer to open a restaurant in the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank, media reported on Wednesday.

Israeli television stations said the company had rejected for "ideological reasons" an offer to locate in a mall under construction in Ariel that is due to open at the beginning of next year.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced confidence on Wednesday that Israeli and Palestinian leaders both wanted peace as he called for progress "as soon as we can" in moving towards talks.

After stops in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Kerry arrived in Jordan where he was to focus his energies on drawing Israel and the Palestinians back into direct negotiations after a hiatus of nearly three years.

Egypt's public prosecutor on Wednesday referred nine people, including six foreigners, to trial for allegedly spying for Israel, the official MENA news agency reported.

Three Egyptians and six Israelis were referred to a criminal court, though it was unclear if any of them were in the country.

Plans to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem are Israel's answer to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to renew peace talks, a senior Palestinian official charged on Wednesday.

"Israel is sending message after message to Kerry that settlement is their response to any (peace) initiative," Hanan Ashrawi told Agence France Presse after a committee pushed through plans for 69 new homes in Har Homa, a particularly contentious area on the southern outskirts of Arab east Jerusalem.

The Israeli army on Wednesday reopened the two crossings into the Gaza Strip which were closed as a punitive measure after militants fired five rockets over the border, a statement said.

"Kerem Shalom and Erez were reopened this morning and are operating as normal," the army said in a statement. The two crossings were closed on Monday.

Two Syrian boys were brought to a hospital in Israel overnight, both suffering from massive shrapnel wounds sustained during the bloody civil war which has gripped their homeland, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

According to a statement released by Ziv hospital in the town of Safed, one was a 15-year-old boy in serious condition who was suffering from multiple injuries all over his body.

Two wounded Syrians were admitted to Israel overnight for hospital treatment, a military spokeswoman told Agence France Presse on Tuesday, the latest in several dozen cases to be allowed across.

The two men entered Israel via the Quneitra crossing on the Golan Heights. There was no word on whether they were civilians, rebel fighters or government troops.

Two wounded Syrians were admitted to Israel overnight for hospital treatment, a military spokeswoman told AFP on Tuesday, the latest in several dozen cases to be allowed across.

The two men entered Israel via the Quneitra crossing on the Golan Heights. There was no word on whether they were civilians, rebel fighters or government troops.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that the mere resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians would yield no results if both parties don't take the time needed to tackle the core issues.

The prime minister's remarks, made two days before the return of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on a mission to revive peace negotiations, appeared to reflect concern that any resumption of talks with the Palestinians could be short-lived.

Israeli warplanes hit Islamic Jihad targets in central and southern Gaza early on Monday after Palestinian rocket fire struck Israel, sources from both sides of the conflict said.

The raids came just hours after militants fired five rockets at southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said.