Speaker Nabih Berri snapped back at Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri saying a country’s “capital would collapse if there is no presence of strong arms on its border.”

“This is exactly what happened in 1982,” Berri told As Safir daily in remarks published Tuesday. “Hadn’t the resistance planted its seeds in the infamous Khalde battle, Israel wouldn’t have gradually pulled out.”

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon lamented that the latest confrontation between March 8 and 14 forces was accompanied by “sectarian” and “inflammatory” remarks.

In his 15th report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, Ban said Lebanon has been witnessing a political crisis over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Israel's defense minister said Monday his country must look beyond the risks that might arise from the changes sweeping the Mideast and seek opportunities to move peacemaking forward — including possible peace talks with Syria.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that Syria appears to be signaling it might be willing to reach an accord.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit Israeli territory on Sunday morning, raising Israel's alert level but causing no damage or casualties, according to Israel's military and police.

The latest rocket, which the military's spokeswoman said struck a field in the Eshkol region in southern Israel, comes after a string of Israeli air raids targeting militant training camps across the Gaza Strip on Saturday night.

Israel has expressed concern over Russia’s decision to fulfill its contract to supply Syria with cruise missiles, saying they could end up in the hands of Hizbullah.

"The question of these missiles' delivery to Syria really has triggered a negative reaction in Israel," the Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Dorit Golender, told the Interfax news agency.

Israeli warplanes bombed two training camps of the hardline Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip early on Saturday, Palestinian sources and the Israeli army said. No casualties were reported.

The jets hit two sites, one in the southern town of Khan Yunis and another near Nusseirat in the center of the Hamas-ruled territory, security officials said.

Russia announced Saturday that it intended to fulfill its contract to supply Syria with supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles despite furious condemnation of the deal by Israel.

"The contract is in the implementation stage," news agencies quoted Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to advance peace talks during a "tense" phone call, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday.

Citing German sources, the newspaper said Merkel responded furiously when Netanyahu criticized Germany for supporting a Palestinian-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement construction.

The Internal Security Forces have arrested a dentist in the Marjayoun town of Mais al-Jabal on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.

Media reports said 55-year-old Farouq Shouqeir was taken into custody on Thursday after the ISF received tips about his alleged collaboration.

New satellite images released by a U.S. research institute show Syria "tried to become a nuclear power," a senior Israeli defense official said on Friday.

Amos Gilad, director of political military affairs at the defense ministry, told army radio that the new images released by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) proved Syria was seeking nuclear weapons.