The Israeli foreign ministry said on Tuesday that a French decision to back a Palestinian bid for enhanced United Nations status at the General Assembly "comes as no surprise."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told parliament that Paris would say "yes" in Thursday's vote on a call for "non-member observer state" status for the Palestinians, recalling France's "consistent position" on the issue.

There was "no mistake" in an Israeli air strike that killed 12 Palestinians in Gaza, including 10 from the same family, the Israeli army said on Tuesday, saying the raid targeted a "terror operative."

The November 18 strike, in the middle of a conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, hit the home of the Dallu family, killing 10 of its members, and two neighbors, including five children and five women.

Israel's former foreign minister Tzipi Livni announced her return to politics on Tuesday at the helm of a new party called The Movement, nearly seven months after stepping aside following a primary defeat.

"I have decided to return to politics... and to create a political party that I have named 'The Movement'," she told a press conference in Tel Aviv eight weeks before snap elections on January 22.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud faction shifted further to the right on Monday, with the more moderate members of the ruling party faring poorly in a primary vote ahead of January elections.

The two-day poll, extended from Sunday after technical failures in the computerized system caused significant delays, ended on Monday night with nearly 60 percent of the Likud's 123,000 members casting their vote.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Monday for renewed efforts to achieve a two-state solution in the Middle East following last week's ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

"More than ever, we need a negotiated two-state solution ending the occupation and the conflict," he said at the inauguration of a new center for interreligious dialogue in Vienna.

A delegation from the March 14 opposition alliance visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as a show of support to the Palestinian people following the latest Israeli aggression on the territory.

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra, and al-Mustaqbal bloc deputies Jamal al-Jarrah and Amine Wehbe along with nine journalists arrived to Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

Gunfire from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight close to an Israeli military vehicle monitoring the ceasefire line but causing no injuries, the military said on Monday.

"There was gunfire near an Israeli military vehicle which was driving along the security fence," a military spokeswoman said, adding the incident had occurred late on Sunday.

A March 14 delegation will be visiting Gaza to meet with several officials in the district, reported Future TV on Monday.

“March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid will head the delegation going to Gaza on Tuesday,” Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) said.

Israeli forces on Monday shot and killed a man who infiltrated from Gaza, broke into an Israeli home and stabbed a woman, an army spokeswoman said.

"A suspect from the Gaza Strip infiltrated the community of Sde Avraham and stabbed a woman inside her home. She was lightly injured," the spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on Monday told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that his movement backs a Palestinian bid for enhanced United Nations status, a Hamas statement said.

But the statement, backed by a similar one from another member of the Hamas politburo in exile, appeared at odds with sentiments expressed by Hamas members in the Gaza Strip.