Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday condemned the EU's foreign policy chief for remarks she made drawing a parallel between Monday's Toulouse attack and the plight of children in Gaza.

"The minister felt that the declarations of Catherine Ashton were not appropriate and he expressed the hope that she would reexamine and reverse them," a statement from Lieberman's office said.

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch has arrested six people on suspicion of collaborating with Israel, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The daily said one of the suspects is a former member of the South Lebanon Army militia and hails from the southern village of Kfarkila.

U.S. Special Coordinator for Regional Affairs Frederic Hof visited Lebanon on Monday where he held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati and other senior government officials, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

He renewed his country’s commitment to a stable, sovereign, and independent Lebanon, encouraging it to continue its efforts to resolve the dispute over its maritime boundaries.

The Israeli forces have not set a definite date to construct a concrete wall along the Blue Line adjacent to the southern town of Kfarkila, despite their strong presence in the area, the An Nahar daily said Monday.

Logistical reasons could be delaying the construction of the wall, sources following up on the issue said, and pointed out that the process could kick off by the end of March following Earth Day celebrations.

Israel on Monday said it was "horrified" by a shooting attack at a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse, which witnesses said left three people dead, two of them children.

"We are horrified by this attack and we trust the French authorities to shed full light on this tragedy and bring the perpetrators of these murders to justice," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Agence France Presse.

Israel is using the Gaza Strip as a testing ground for a possible military strike on its arch foe Iran, the head of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas said on Monday.

"Israel is warming up the region for a possible war against Iran," Khaled Meshaal said in an interview with Turkey's Anatolia news agency.

Israeli Army officers believe that Syria has been arming and training Hizbullah fighters in the use of advanced antiaircraft weapons in recent months, which would increase the potential of escalation in Lebanon, the Haaretz daily reported.

"The potential of escalation in Lebanon is huge, and Hizbullah continues to strengthen with regard to long-range weaponry and potential 'surprises' on the battlefield," a senior Israeli officer in the Northern Command said.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that escalation will not benefit any side in Lebanon as tranquility is the only way to resolve disputes and maintain stability.

“It’s the same old rhetoric, escalation will not benefit anyone, and calm is the only way to resolve the issues,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

Israel's intelligence service Mossad agrees with U.S. assessments of Iran's nuclear ambitions, even though Israeli leaders have talked about Tehran's plans to acquire nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported late Saturday.

"Their people ask very hard questions, but Mossad does not disagree with the U.S. on the weapons program," the newspaper quoted an unnamed former senior U.S. intelligence official as saying.

Israeli troops wounded a six-year-old Palestinian boy on Sunday when they opened fire east of the town of Rafah, in southern Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said.

"A six-year-old Palestinian child was wounded by Israeli army gunfire near the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which is where the family lives," emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told AFP.