Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "thrown out" a key provision of his controversial judicial reform plan that has sparked one of the country's biggest ever protest movements.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Netanyahu said he intends to press on with the reforms, but without a clause that aimed to curb the supreme court's powers and give politicians a greater say in the selection of judges.

Dozens of Israeli air force reservists have said they'll refuse to show up for duty if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government moves ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.

The threat comes after Netanyahu said his government would proceed with the overhaul after talks with the opposition to find a compromise faltered. Coalition legislators have since been advancing a legal change to what's known as the "reasonability standard" that critics say would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions and grant it too much power.

At the funeral for Sadeel Naghniyeh, 15, her closest friends hoisted her dead body over their small shoulders. Wearing their school uniforms — tight black hijabs and oversized striped shirts — they staggered through the Palestinian refugee camp, crying and choking out the Islamic funeral prayers.

Last week's tribute by the schoolgirls was a striking departure from the stream of funerals that have become a grim routine in this flashpoint West Bank town. The death of Sadeel — killed by suspected Israeli fire when a raid into the northern Jenin refugee camp ignited the territory's fiercest Israeli-Palestinian fighting in years — drew attention to the rising number of children killed in the heightened violence and the extraordinary risks they face.

Saudi authorities were investigating Thursday after an assailant and a security guard were killed in an exchange of gunfire outside the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, the gateway city for the massive hajj pilgrimage taking place in Mecca.

The gunman and a Nepalese security guard both died after the exchange of fire outside the consulate on Wednesday evening, officials said, giving no possible motive for the incident.

A 13-year-old Kurdish girl went missing on her way home from a school exam last month, after being approached by a man from an armed group. Her parents immediately feared the worst — that she had been persuaded to join the group and was taken to one of its training camps.

At least 3 people were killed when a 14-story apartment building collapsed in Egypt's northern coastal city of Alexandria, authorities said Tuesday.

The high-rise in the Mediterranean city's neighborhood of Muntazah collapsed early on Monday and initial reports said eight people were missing beneath the rubble.

If a landmark reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has eased tensions in the Gulf, clouds have also lifted at the hajj pilgrimage, where Iranian visitors finally feel welcome again.

Seven years of enmity between the Sunni and Shiite powers had made for a cool reception for Iranian pilgrims joining worshippers from around the world for the massive event.

Israel's far-right government has approved plans to build over 5,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Israeli media said, a move that threatened to worsen increasingly strained relations with the United States.

The decision defied growing U.S. criticism of Israel's settlement policies. It also raised tensions with the Palestinians at a time of rising violence in the occupied territory.

A fire tore through a high-rise residential building in the United Arab Emirates early Tuesday before being brought under control, according to videos circulating online.

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the blaze in Ajman, one of the seven emirates that makes up the UAE, which also includes the futuristic cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The Israeli foreign ministry said Tuesday it was summoning the Ukrainian ambassador for a "clarification," after the Ukrainian embassy accused "the current Israeli government" of "a clear pro-Russian position".

"In light of his repeated remarks against Israel's policy, Ukrainian ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk has been summoned for a clarification that will take place at the foreign ministry on July 3," a ministry statement said.