Archaeologists from Europe, the United States and the Middle East are calling for a halt to construction of a museum on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a U.S. rights group said.

The website of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) said the 84 signatories, including Israeli and Palestinian academics, had signed a letter demanding that construction of the Museum of Tolerance should be stopped "immediately."

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Monday the United Nations to declare Lebanon as a neutral country during his visit to the U.S., As Safir newspaper reported.

The patriarch noted that he means by it “the positive neutrality, whereby (Lebanon) isn’t subordinate to any country or regional or international axes.”

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to tackle on Monday the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri during a television interview, An Nahar reported.

Nasrallah will discuss during the interview the disputed issues among the cabinet members.

Israel said Sunday it had offered its assistance to Turkey after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern part of the country, despite ongoing tensions between the formerly close allies.

But Turkey had said that for the time being, they would not need it.

Israel must set new rules governing prisoner exchanges such as the one implemented to secure soldier Gilad Shalit's release, Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday.

"I'm happy about the deal on the exchange for Gilad Shalit, but we must set new rules," he told the free daily newspaper Israel Hayom.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he would push for statehood at the United Nations even if he resumes peace negotiations with Israel, Egyptian state media reported on Saturday.

Abbas, who was in Cairo for meetings with Egypt's leadership, said he would "immediately" resume talks with Israel if it accepted a Middle East Quartet statement from last month, MENA said.

Egypt and Israel are adding the "final touches" to a deal to swap an Israel-American detained in Cairo for a group of Egyptian prisoners and children, the official MENA news agency said on Saturday.

"MENA has learned that the final touches are currently being made for a deal to swap Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, accused of spying on Egypt for Israel, for about 16 Egyptian prisoners and three detained children," MENA reported.

The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad stated on Friday that the Resistance is keen on finding solutions to disputes in Lebanon through national dialogue, which it believes is the only way to end the current political divide in the country.

He said during a seminar from Moscow: “The Resistance is not deluded in believing that it can singlehandedly rule a country, even if it was in a position of power.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to partially freeze West Bank settlement building if it will bring the Palestinians back to direct talks, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.

According to Haaretz, the offer was made in a conversation with Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin on Wednesday during a surprise visit to the region in order to try and help the parties reach some kind of agreement on how to resume talks.

Amer Musa Nasim, one of the last seven remaining Jews in Baghdad, says he finally had to leave violence-stricken Iraq to live a peaceful life even though he loves his country.

"I have always tried to hide my identity to avoid trouble," said Nasim, 38, who arrived in Jordan earlier this year.