A key witness in the trial of Israel's former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman took the stand Thursday as his trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust began at Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.

At a first hearing on February 17, Lieberman pleaded not guilty to the charges in a trial which will decide the one-time nightclub bouncer's political future.

Lebanon has high prospects of gas in its offshore Exclusive Economic Zone larger than the amount in Tamar and Leviathan fields off Israel's Mediterranean shores.

According to Neil Hodgson, an international expert at Spectrum company, there are high chances of detecting large quantities of gas offshore Lebanon.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged caution Wednesday over an Israeli claim Syria's regime used chemical weapons, saying it was "serious business" and any evidence had to be weighed carefully.

Warning against a possible rush to judgement, Hagel indicated he had been caught off guard by allegations from an Israeli general this week that Syria had fired chemical agents against rebels in recent months.

An Israeli Bedouin who has been jailed in Egypt for more than 12 years on charges of spying has begun an open-ended hunger strike, he said in a handwritten letter in Arabic seen by Agence France Presse.

Ouda Tarabin's letter, passed on to the Israeli embassy in Cairo, was addressed to Ambassador Yaakov Amitai.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not been able to confirm to him on Tuesday that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against rebels.

"I think it is fair to say (the prime minister) was not in a position to confirm that in the conversation," Kerry said, explaining that he had telephoned Netanyahu following reports of their use.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday at the end of a three-day trip which saw him touting strong backing for Israel despite differences over Iran's nuclear project.

With U.S.-Israeli relations strained over questions about the imminence of the threat posed by a nuclear Iran and Hagel dogged by his past criticisms of Israel, the Pentagon chief has stressed his full-throated support for the Jewish state in his first visit as defense secretary.

President Bashar Assad is using chemical weapons, most likely sarin, against rebel forces in Syria, a senior Israeli army officer told a conference on Tuesday.

"Assad is using chemical weapons in Syria," said Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of research and analysis in the army's military intelligence division, in remarks quoted on the army's official Twitter feed.

An Israeli-held Palestinian prisoner on a life-threatening hunger strike has agreed to end his protest in return for his release, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Samer Issawi, who is serving a sentence for militant activity and has intermittently refused food since August 2012, would be freed eight months from when he ends his strike, Jawad Boulos told Agence France Presse.

Turkey expressed its dismay on Monday with the way U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay a visit to the Gaza Strip planned for next month, saying that an experienced diplomat would not do so.

Kerry's statement "is not correct diplomatically", Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters. "It is up to our government to decide where our prime minister or a Turkish official will go and when."

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Monday implicitly confirmed Israel was behind a January strike on a weapons convoy in Syria, saying Israel had "acted" to stop advanced weaponry reaching Hizbullah.

Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Yaalon said Israel would not allow "sophisticated weapons" to fall into the hands of "Hizbullah or other rogue elements."