The White House on Thursday raised the prospect of withdrawing crucial diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, following Benjamin Netanyahu's divisive election victory.

Angered by Netanyahu's shock campaign pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state, the White House warned the foundation of its policy for backing Israel had been undermined.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc urged on Thursday the need to continue with the dialogue between Hizbullah and the Mustaqbal Movement, condemning attempts to derail the talks.

MP Hussein Fadlallah said after the bloc's weekly meeting that the dialogue will continue away from attempts to sabotage by those “adopting political spite.”

Israeli authorities allowed 1,000 tons of cement paid for by Qatar to enter the devastated Gaza Strip on Thursday, officials said, in the first serious step towards rebuilding the territory.

A 50-day war last summer between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory, decimated entire neighborhoods across Gaza and left 100,000 people homeless.

As the man who took the Arab Israeli parties to their single biggest election win of 13 seats, Ayman Odeh dreams of a bigger political future for his community.

The 40-year-old lawyer on Tuesday won his first parliamentary seat at the head of the Arab Joint List -- a bloc formed in response to a new Israeli law that upped the electoral threshold.

A two-state solution to the Middle East conflict will be impossible with an Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday.

"Netanyahu's statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state... are proof, if correct, that there is no seriousness in the (future) Israeli government about a political solution that will lead to the establishment of two states," he said a day after the Israeli leader snatched an upset election victory.

Results released by Israel's Central Elections Committee on Thursday confirmed a big win for the rightwing Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the center-left Zionist Union. 

The Likud won 30 of the 120 seats in parliament to 24 for the Zionist Union.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in the Israeli election will not disrupt painstaking U.S. efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, the State Department said Wednesday.

The Israeli leader opposes any accommodation with Tehran and came to Washington during the campaign to address U.S. lawmakers and denounce the agreement under negotiation as a "bad deal."

The EU congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his election victory Wednesday but added it was committed to relaunching the Middle East peace process which he appeared to repudiate during the campaign.

"The EU is committed to working with the incoming Israeli government on a mutually beneficial relationship as well as on the re-launch of the peace process," EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

An Israeli partner in the Tamar gas field announced Wednesday a deal to sell natural gas to an Egyptian company, as Cairo said it knew nothing of the deal, which it must approve.

Delek said the partners would supply Dolphinus Holdings with at least five billion cubic meters (177 billion cubic feet) of gas over three years in a deal estimated at an overall $1.2 billion (962 million euros).

Israeli center-left leader Isaac Herzog ruled out Wednesday prospects of a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu, the day after losing a general election to the right-wing prime minister's Likud party.

"Going into opposition is the only realistic option facing us," he told a meeting of his Zionist Union party in Tel Aviv.