Israel expressed fear that Hizbullah will try to blockade the country by targeting civilian cargo ships within a 30 kilometers radius to halt them from sailing there during war, the Jerusalem Post reported.

According to the Israeli newspaper, Israel receives 90 percent of all goods, including ammunition and military hardware, by sea.

New York-based United Against Nuclear Iran, or UANI, is pushing for the U.S. Treasury Department to designate Lebanon's financial system as a "money-laundering concern" under a statute of the Patriot Act, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But the Journal said that while the Treasury is focused on weakening the finances of Hizbullah and its main backers Iran and Syria, there is also a concern that Washington's allies in Lebanon could be harmed if Beirut's financial position deteriorates.

Speaker Nabih Berri suspended on Tuesday the parliamentary session for lack of quorum after Christian blocs boycotted it over the approval of EDL contract workers’ full-employment.

“The boycott is based on political reasons and not sectarian,” Berri said.

Members of an Internal Security Forces patrol were assaulted by Hizbullah supporters in the Rweiss neighbourhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs, security sources told An Nahar daily on Tuesday.

The sources said the ISF had set up a checkpoint on Monday as part of the one-month security campaign launched by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, when the security forces saw a motorcyclist carrying a gun.

President Michel Suleiman and his French counterpart Francois Hollande are expected to discuss the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon over dinner at the Elysee palace on July 12, An Nahar daily reported on Tuesday.

Suleiman will travel to Paris on July 11 on a two-day business visit, it said.

Libya on Monday freed four envoys of the International Criminal Court, including Lebanese interpreter Helene Assaf, who were detained after visiting the son of slain leader Moammar Gadhafi last month, a brigade commander and an official said.

"The four members (of the ICC team) were released," Ajmi al-Atiri, commander of a brigade holding Seif al-Islam Gadhafi told journalists in Zintan, a hilltop town southwest of Tripoli.

Phalange Party denounced Monday the Syrian security forces’ infiltration of the northern region of Wadi Khaled, urging the parliament to summon the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali to object such a violation.

After its weekly politburo meeting chaired by leader Amin Gemayel, the party issued a statement condemning the Syrian violation of the Lebanese territory, supporting MP Sami Gemayel’s suggestion “that the cabinet should summon the Syrian ambassador to protest this hostile action.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati received on Monday a telephone call from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who hoped that Lebanon would enjoy “complete stability”, especially in the South.

He told the premier: “France understands Lebanon’s policy of distancing itself from the Syrian crisis.”

An Israeli jet blew up on Monday a spy device between the southern towns of Zrariyeh and Tayr Filsay, reported various media outlets.

Al-Manar television said that the attack targeted a device that was located on a Hizbullah telecommunications cable.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said Monday that the Syrians will “crush the ruling gang” and claim victory over President Bashar al-Assad’s regime sooner or later, urging Russia and Iran to support the people not the government.

In his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine, Jumblat said that “Egypt witnessed a historical moment when elected President Mohammed Morsi took power to initiate a new era.”