Israeli prosecutors on Thursday charged a third Jewish suspect in a probe linked to a June arson attack at a shrine where Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of loaves and fishes.

Authorities accused Moshe Orbach of writing and distributing a document detailing the "necessity" of attacking non-Jewish property and people as well as laying out practical advice to do so, the justice ministry said.

A senior military officer has said Israel could attack militants affiliated to the Islamic State group in neighboring Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, if they were about to attack Israeli soldiers or civilians.

The "threat of terror from Sinai" has grown in recent years, Brigadier General Royi Elcabets said on Wednesday.

The Israeli parliament approved Thursday a law allowing prisoners on hunger strike to be force fed if their life is in danger or they face chronic health problems, a spokesman said.

The law, which seeks to prevent imprisoned Palestinian militants from pressuring Israel by refusing food, was initially approved by cabinet in June 2014 at the height of a mass hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners, during which dozens were hospitalized.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has sought to reassure worried lawmakers on the nuclear deal with Iran and stressed that the Islamic Republic and its proxies, including Hizbullah, continue to be a threat.

Iran and its proxies still present security challenges, Carter said on Wednesday at a committee hearing as part of the White House's aggressive campaign to convince Congress to back the Iranian nuclear deal, which calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Top U.S. military officers sought to reassure worried lawmakers Wednesday that U.S. forces would check Iran's "malign" influence in the Middle East should Congress greenlight the nuclear deal with Tehran.

Many Republicans and some skeptical Democrats have voiced concerns that the historic accord reached with the Islamic republic this month in Vienna would trigger a regional nuclear arms race, embolden and strengthen Iran and put key U.S. ally Israel in jeopardy.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned Israel's approval of 300 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank and called on the government to reverse its decision.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the "immediate" construction of the 300 homes in Beit El and planning for another 504 homes in annexed east Jerusalem, his office said.

Deputies of the Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza on Wednesday renewed calls for a "revolt" against the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority over its sweeping arrests of anti-Israeli militants.

The deputies, in an act of defiance, held a meeting in the parliament building in Gaza City that has not convened officially since 2007 when Hamas expelled PA security forces after a week of deadly clashes.

Jordan handed down jail sentences Wednesday against seven of its citizens and a Syrian for planning attacks on U.S. soldiers in the country and on the Israeli embassy, a judicial source said.

The plots in question would have involved "terrorist acts" against the U.S. service personnel at a Jordan military base in Al-Moaqar in 2006 and against the Israeli embassy in Amman in 2008, the source said without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Wednesday the "immediate" construction of 300 settler homes in the occupied West Bank as his government came under pressure from right-wing Jewish groups.

A senior Palestine Liberation Organization official denounced the plans to build new homes as "war crimes" and accused Israel of sabotaging peace efforts.

An analysis of an Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip following the capture of one of its soldiers during last year's war in the Palestinian territory shows "strong evidence" of war crimes, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

The London-based rights group called for those responsible for the alleged offenses to be prosecuted as it published a detailed analysis of the Israeli military operation using eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery, photos and videos.