Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday said he expected the Egyptian army to withdraw its reinforcements from the Sinai Peninsula at the end of its operation to root out Islamist militants.

"They must act against terror and if they have to bring in troops, let them do so. And when it ends, they must take them out," Barak said in an interview with Israel's army radio.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday reprimanded Iran for "outrageous" comments denying the Holocaust and Israel's right to exist, and called on the two arch-nemeses to drop threats against each other.

"I strongly reject any threat by any (U.N.) member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said in a speech before a Non-Aligned summit in Tehran.

Iran's embassy in Bulgaria accused Israel on Thursday of trying to discredit Tehran and hurt bilateral relations with Sofia, with comments that Iran was behind a recent deadly attack on Israeli tourists.

In a statement, the embassy accused Israel of "abuse... aimed at compromising the Islamic Republic of Iran and creating problems in the historic and friendly ties" between Bulgaria and Iran.

Sharp debates emerged between the Free Patriotic Movement and AMAL over oil exploration off Lebanon’s shore, local newspapers reported on Thursday.

The different points of view over addressing the issue created a heated debate in the cabinet session held at the Grand Serail on Wednesday, which prompted the postponement of discussions to the session scheduled to convene on September 5, according to Speaker Nabih Berri's advisor Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.

Vandals believed to be Jewish extremists on Wednesday torched a car and sprayed anti-Arab graffiti near a refugee camp near Ramallah, an Agence France Presse correspondent and police said.

The incident took place between Jalazoun refugee camp and Dura al-Qara village, both of which lie very close to Beit El settlement.

A 42-year-old Gazan woman was in critical condition on Wednesday after being shot by Israeli troops near the border in central Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said.

The incident occurred in an area east of the central town of Deir al-Balah.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday the importance of swiftly completing the necessary steps to launch oil exploration off Lebanon’s shore.

“This vital issue shouldn’t be delayed,” Berri told MPs during his weekly meeting with lawmakers.

French prosecutors have opened a murder inquiry into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's 2004 death near Paris, sources close to the matter told Agence France Presse Tuesday.

The probe comes after Arafat's family launched legal action in France last month over claims the veteran Palestinian leader died of radioactive polonium poisoning.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday urged Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi to warm relations with Israel by visiting Jerusalem.

"I was happy to hear Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi speak of Egypt's commitment to peace with Israel, to the Camp David peace accords and to the battle against terror," Lieberman said at a legal conference.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Tuesday that the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement must tackle their own problems among each other instead of resorting to foreign powers that seek to impose their own will against them.

He stressed: “Can we possibly leave a member state, such as Syria, as prey to unjust sanctions that have been imposed for unconvincing reasons because of its insistence to maintain its sovereign, political, and economic rights ?”