Israel's justice ministry announced Sunday it was closing the criminal investigation of the police officer whose documented beating of a soldier of Ethiopian origin set off a series of protests.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein decided to accept the recommendation of internal affairs to discontinue the proceedings against the officer, transferring the case to police for a "disciplinary examination" of his conduct, the ministry said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday called for the immediate release of hunger-striking prisoners held by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Gaza's former Hamas premier Ismail Haniya appealed for the release of Khadar Adnan, who was imprisoned without trial by Israel and has been refusing food for about 40 days.

Israeli troops stole a herd of cattle Sunday after failing to abduct a number of shepherds in the outskirts of the southern town of Shebaa inside Lebanese territory, state-run National News Agency reported.

“An Israeli infantry force crossed the border this afternoon in the Jabal al-Zalqa area in the outskirts of the town of Shebaa, where it tried to kidnap a number of shepherds who eventually managed to escape,” NNA said.

Israel on Sunday defended its conduct in the 2014 Gaza war as both "lawful" and "legitimate" in a detailed inter-ministerial report which was roundly rejected by the Palestinians. 

Nine months after the end of the conflict, which claimed the lives of nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side, Israel revealed the findings of the investigation into the conduct of its forces and that of the Hamas militants it was fighting.

Iran has asked Austria's government to take immediate measures to protect the cyber security of nuclear talks, media reported Saturday after reports emerged of suspected espionage at negotiation venues.

Swiss and Austrian authorities said on Thursday they had opened separate investigations into alleged spying in hotels where the nuclear talks with Iran are taking place.

The family of four Palestinian children killed when Israel bombed a beach during last summer's Gaza war were indignant Friday over the closure of a probe into the incident.

The Israeli army, which launched the investigation after the 50-day July-August war ended, announced late Thursday that the "tragic" attack witnessed by several foreign journalists had not violated international law, and said it was closing the case.

The head of French telecoms giant Orange told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday he was distressed by reactions to remarks seen as backing a boycott of the Jewish State.

"I deeply regret the impact resulting from the context and interpretation of those statements," Orange quoted Stephane Richard as telling Netanyahu at a meeting in Jerusalem.

The Israeli army said on Thursday that it was dropping proceedings over a July 16 bombing of a Gaza beach where four children died during last summer's war.

"The... case has been closed following the completion of a criminal investigation," it said in a statement, adding that two other cases involving Palestinian deaths in the fighting had also been closed, but a criminal investigation had been launched in an attack on a cafe in which nine died.

Israel's Supreme Court has dismissed a Palestinian petition that sought to end discriminatory housing policies in the occupied West Bank and would have returned local planning rights to the Palestinians. 

The ruling, handed down Tuesday, was in response to a petition filed by the West Bank village of ad-Deirat, the Israeli NGO Rabbis for Human Rights and another three organizations.

The final stretch of international negotiations on curtailing Iran's nuclear ambitions will be "pretty tough," a U.S. official warned Wednesday, as the weeks count down to a June 30 deadline for a historic agreement.

The long-sought deal -- which is bitterly opposed by Israel -- would row back Iran's nuclear program in return for relief from punishing sanctions.