Israel might suffer from a catastrophic blast Like the Beirut port explosion, an expert in hazardous materials has warned.

"Israel has an acute problem of ammonium nitrate factories located next to residential areas," Danny Kronenberg said, in remarks published Sunday in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi were headed to Israel Monday as the EU seeks to wean itself off Russian fossil fuel imports. 

Von der Leyen and Draghi are due to hold energy talks in Israel, which has turned from a natural gas importer into an exporter in recent years because of major offshore finds.

Libyan officials have returned to the Egyptian capital for a third round of talks on constitutional amendments for elections. The North African nation once again finds itself at a political impasse with two rival administrations claiming legitimacy.

The talks in Cairo come on the heels of clashes between rival militias that caused residents of the Libyan capital of Tripoli to panic and revived nightmares of previous bouts of fighting in the chaos-stricken nation.

Dozens of lawmakers who make up the biggest bloc in Iraq's parliament have resigned amid a prolonged political impasse, plunging the divided nation into political uncertainty.

The 73 lawmakers from powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc submitted their resignation based on his request, to protest a persisting political deadlock eight months after general elections were held.

Syria has confirmed major damage including to runways at Damascus International Airport, which was closed for a second day Saturday for repairs after Israeli air strikes.

Repairs have begun at the airport in Syria's capital, which was closed for a second day Saturday after Israeli air strikes, Syria's transport ministry said.

A coalition of 10 rights groups Friday condemned a decree by Tunisian President Kais Saied firing scores of judges, describing it as a "deep blow to judicial independence".

The June 1 presidential decree saw Saied award himself the power to fire judges, and he duly sacked 57 of them, further cementing a power grab that began in July last year when he dismissed the government and suspended an elected parliament.

The United States is restoring a line of communication for the Palestinians that had been canceled by the Trump administration.

The move, announced before a possible visit by President Joe Biden to Israel and the occupied West Bank, is bureaucratic in nature. But it means the Palestinians will deal directly with the U.S. State Department in Washington rather than first go through the American ambassador to Israel.

All flights to and from Syria's capital were halted Friday, the government said, after Israeli air strikes wounded at least one civilian and reportedly caused damage to an airport runway.

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank may soon get a taste of the military rule that Palestinians have been living under for 55 years.

If Israel's parliament does not act, a special legal status accorded to the settlers will expire at the end of the month, with wide-ranging consequences. Lawyers who live in the settlements, including two members of Israel's Supreme Court, will no longer be allowed to practice law. Settlers would be subject to military courts usually reserved for Palestinians and would lose access to some public services.