Israel is on a locust alert as swarms of the destructive bugs descend on neighboring Egypt ahead of the Passover holiday.

Israel's Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline Monday and is asking Israelis to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings to prevent an outbreak.

Israeli bulldozers backed by several army vehicles crossed the technical fence in the South on Monday and carried out construction work in a disputed area, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the bulldozers and around 25 Israeli soldiers in armored vehicles entered some 10-25 meters into the disputed area on the eastern bank of the Wazzani river and began digging a road and erecting earth mounds.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Iran on Sunday that Israel would never allow Iranian leaders to develop a nuclear weapon, as he addressed a powerful U.S.-Israel lobby.

"It is Iran's pursuit of a nuclear capability which is the greatest challenge facing Israel, the region and the world today," Barak told thousands of delegates at the opening of the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Sunday that Israel is closely monitoring the battlefronts in Syria after press reports that rebels had seized Scud missiles from regime forces.

But Yaalon downplayed any threat to Israel from the Scuds -- long-range surface-to-surface missiles which Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein used against the Jewish state in the 1991 Gulf War.

Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers have only given the Islamic republic more time to pursue its quest for a nuclear weapon, a senior Israeli official told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

Two days of talks on Tehran's controversial atomic drive with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France -- plus Germany ended on Wednesday.

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a two-week extension to form a new coalition government, after he failed to do so in an initial four-week period.

"I am giving you another two weeks, by law, to complete the task of forming the government," Peres told Netanyahu during a televised statement at the presidential residence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah II met in Jordan last week and discussed the Middle East peace process, a diplomatic source told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"Last week, Netanyahu traveled to Jordan and met King Abdullah II," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "In the meeting, they discussed the Middle East peace process."

Mortar rounds believed to be have been fired from Syria hit the southern Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday without causing damage or casualties, the army said.

"Several shells landed and were found in an open area in the southern Golan Heights, most likely due to the fighting in Syria," a spokesman told Agence France Presse.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Turkey's leaders on the Syria crisis Friday amid a row over controversial comments by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan branding Zionism a "crime against humanity."

"Obviously we disagree with that, we find it objectionable," Kerry said at a joint press conference in Ankara, referring to a speech delivered by Erdogan that likened Zionism to fascism and anti-Semitism.

Israel's armed forces chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz ruled out on Friday reports saying that Hizbullah possesses chemical weapons, warning the party and Syria that the Israeli army is fully ready to face any emergency in the region.

"Israel will respond to any development that might shake the security balance in the region,” Benny stated during a meeting with high school students in Israel.