Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "doomed," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday, urging the international community to increase pressure on his embattled regime.

The late Yasser Arafat's powerful moneyman is the target of the highest-profile Palestinian corruption probe to date, facing allegations he syphoned off millions of dollars in public funds, the chief investigator said Wednesday.

Noble Energy is to hook up two small natural gas fields to Israel's central gas supply to avoid electricity shortages over the summer due to the cut in Egyptian supplies, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a "secret visit" to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

An Israeli company has written off its entire 12.5 percent investment in the company that sold Egyptian natural gas to Israel before Egypt terminated the exports.

A reshuffled Palestinian cabinet in the West Bank is to be sworn in on Wednesday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said.

The shadowy financial adviser of the late Yasser Arafat is being sought on suspicion he stole millions of dollars in public funds, the top Palestinian anti-corruption campaigner said Wednesday.