U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday the Arab spring has left Israel "increasingly isolated" in the Middle East and that its military might could not make up for a weakened diplomatic position.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane bound for Israel as part of a Middle East tour, Panetta said it was crucial for Israel to shore up its relations with Egypt and other countries in the region that had proved valuable partners in the past.

Tehran's two-day International Conference on Palestine supported in its closing statement Lebanon and its resistance against Israel.

“We support the Lebanese peoples' struggle and the Lebanese resistance against the Zionist occupiers, and we support the efforts to free the remaining land, especially Shebaa farms and the Kfarshoubahills,” the statement said.

The Arab League appealed to member states Sunday to bolster financial help to the Palestinian territories after U.S. lawmakers froze about $200 million in aid in response to Palestinians' U.N. statehood bid.

"It is necessary for the member countries of the League to increase their financial aid to the Palestinian people so they can face this threat," said Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi after talks in Cairo with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.

The Palestinians on Sunday dismissed Israel's welcome of a Quartet call for the resumption of peace talks, saying the peace proposal requires Israel to halt settlement construction.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, speaking to Agence France Presse from Cairo, said a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office was "an exercise in deceiving the international community."

Israel on Sunday welcomed a call from the international Quartet for peace talks to resume, saying it had some "concerns" but urging the Palestinians to begin negotiations "without delay."

"Israel welcomes the Quartet's call for direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions, as called for by both (U.S.) President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu," a statement from the premier's office said.

Speaker Nabih Berri noted on Saturday that Lebanon remains Israel’s main enemy because it is its major competitor in the region, adding that the Jewish state is seeking to fragment Lebanon.

He said during the opening of the international conference in support of the Palestinian intifada held in Iran: “The Resistance is the main deterrent power against Israel and given the current circumstances, it is a necessity to prevent Israeli exploitation of the situation in the Arab world to harm Lebanon.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand a quick return to peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, her spokesman said Friday.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Friday the importance of Palestinian national unity given the talk of the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

He said upon his arrival in Tehran to take part in the fifth international conference to support the Palestinian intifada: “It’s important to reveal to the world the conspiracies being plotted against the Palestinian cause.”

The Israeli air force launched a raid over the Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired from the Palestinian territory towards southern Israel Thursday, a military spokesman said.

The rocket fired from Gaza landed in an abandoned building in Israel's Shaar Hanegev area, the spokesman said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Thursday that the Lebanese government is doing all it can to demarcate the Lebanese-Israeli border, overlooking that fact that Lebanon is also bordered by Syria and Cyprus.

He said before a delegation of Zahle bloc MPs that the government should completely maintain the people’s interests by demarcating those borders as well and not simply direct its attention to one side “because of ideological reasons.”