Iran's intelligence ministry says it is holding more than 15 Iranian and foreign suspects belonging to an Israeli-linked "assassination" network, according to media reports on Tuesday.

It also said it had uncovered a spy base run by Israel's Mossad in an unspecified neighboring country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday received a letter from president Mahmoud Abbas about the moribund peace process, as he met in Jerusalem with two Palestinian officials, his office said.

The brief meeting was described by the Palestinians as "serious," with both sides saying Netanyahu would reply with his own letter to Abbas "within two weeks."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange interviewed Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday in the debut of his "The World Tomorrow" talk show on Russia's state-funded RT cable broadcaster.

Assange remains under house arrest and was speaking from his study in London to Nasrallah at his Lebanese office via a computer video link.

Israeli authorities were on Monday holding 47 foreigners pending deportation, out of 79 barred from entering the Jewish state because of their links to a pro-Palestinian campaign, an official said.

"There are 47 people still awaiting deportation, including 37 French nationals, eight Britons, an Italian and a Canadian," immigration official Sabine Haddad told Agence France Presse.

The Israeli army said Monday it has suspended an officer who hit a foreign activist in the face with his gun, in an attack that was condemned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner has been suspended until the conclusion of the inquiry which has been opened," a military spokesman said.

Israel has barred nearly 80 foreigners from flying into the country on grounds they were linked to a pro-Palestinian campaign, police said on Monday, with 60 of them still awaiting deportation.

As of midnight, police at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv had detained 78 people, more than two-thirds of them French nationals, spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

The Israeli army will receive new tank shells developed to penetrate reinforced targets, a crucial means for the military of the Jewish state which faces future conflicts with Hizbullah and Hamas, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.

The new 120 mm. shell called M339 can be fired by Merkava Mk 3 and Mk 4 tanks at extended ranges, the newspaper said. The shell explodes only after it penetrates a target and then releases thousands of lethal fragments.

Iran has bought itself extra time during a first round of key talks with world powers over its disputed nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

"My initial impression is that Iran has been given a 'freebie'," Netanyahu said during talks with visiting U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, the premier's office reported.

Israel deployed hundreds of police Sunday at its main airport to detain activists flying in to protest the country's occupation of Palestinian areas, defying vigorous Israeli government efforts to block their arrival.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said hundreds of protesters were expected to land at Ben-Gurion International Airport in the course of the day. The police contingent at the airport was reinforced to deal with possible unrest or disruptions, he said.

British airline Jet2.com said Saturday it has cancelled tickets for an unspecified number of passengers planning to attend a pro-Palestinian activist gathering after Israel raised objections.

The Guardian newspaper had reported that Jet2.com contacted three women passengers late Friday to inform them that their seats were cancelled on a flight to Tel Aviv scheduled to take off from Manchester, northern England, at 0900 GMT on Sunday.