U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday Israel's parliament vote on West Bank annexation, saying the move was an "insult."

Speaking on the tarmac of Tel Aviv's international airport before departing at the end of his visit to Israel this week, Vance said that if the vote was a "political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt."

As U.S. Vice President JD Vance's visit to Israel comes to a close, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel on Thursday in a visit aimed at keeping the momentum on the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

According to a U.S. official, Rubio will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Thursday.

Israeli settlers descended on Palestinian olive harvesters and activists this week in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, beating them with clubs in an attack Palestinian health officials said sent at least one woman to the hospital with serious injuries.

The attack Sunday in the town of Turmus Ayya, which was captured in videos obtained by The Associated Press, came as Palestinians say settler violence in the region is worsening. The United Nations and rights groups have raised the alarm as harvest season begins and Palestinian farmers are at growing risk while gathering olives.

Egypt and the European Union will hold their first summit on Wednesday in Brussels where leaders will discuss security, trade and migration as well as stability in Gaza.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are expected to announce increased European economic assistance to Egypt and Egypt's admission to the EU's Horizons research incubation program, a 175 billion euro (about $202.7 billion) fund for scientific research and innovation in fields from quantum technology to the space industry.

Israel's prime minister toughened his stance Wednesday by declaring that his country is in charge of its own security and isn't an American protectorate as he prepared to discuss progress on Gaza's fragile ceasefire agreement with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks ahead of his meeting with Vance appeared aimed easing public concerns that the presence of an envisioned international security force in Gaza could limit Israel's ability to strike in the devastated territory to thwart future threats.

he International Court of Justice said on Wednesday that Israel must allow the U.N. aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA, to provide humanitarian assistance to the war-torn territory.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the Gaza ceasefire brokered by Washington could pave the way for broader alliances for Israel in the Middle East.

Syria government forces launched an operation Wednesday against jihadists holed up in a camp in the northwest of the country, in a push to capture French fighters wanted by their government, a monitor and a French jihadist told AFP.

Security forces "launched a vast operation against the camp... to arrest French fighters wanted by their government," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that allied nations in the Middle East were prepared to send troops into Gaza to confront Hamas if the group did not cease its alleged violations of his peace plan.

"Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and 'straighten our (sic) Hamas' if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due in Doha late Tuesday as Ankara seeks to acquire some of Qatar's used Eurofighter Typhoon jets, a Turkish security source told AFP.