The Lebanese and Israeli armies exchanged fire in the area of Mountazahat in Wazzani on Monday morning after a Jewish state patrol crossed the U.N.-drawn Blue Line, the Lebanese military said.

Both sides reported no casualties but each blamed the other for the clash.

France will retaliate “firmly” with any new attack against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, French sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Sunday.

“France is very upset with the recent attack against the international troops,” they added.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Saturday that the cabinet will meet all the needs of the army according to the plan that its “wise” leadership established, the National News Agency reported.

“The government will protect the army along with all the security institutions from any interference,” Miqati said in the Order of the Day issued on the 66th anniversary of Army Day on August 1.

Austria said Saturday it could send peacekeeping troops to Lebanon by the end of the year, as part of the UNIFIL mission here, following a request by New York.

"The (Austrian) army has built up expertise and experience in the region. A second pillar in the Middle East, on top of the Golan mission, is definitely conceivable," Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said in a statement.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji urged on Friday the army to fortify the internal scene against the repercussions of regional crises and maintain unity against internal challenges.

He said in an address of the army: “You should not allow your country to become a means to target any fraternal country.”

Premier Najib Miqati returns to Beirut from his family trip abroad on Friday night as the cabinet readies itself to hold a meeting next week to discuss the bombing that targeted a UNIFIL patrol in the south and a series of administrative issues.

The agenda of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting has 161 items linked to financial, real estate, electricity and water projects. The agenda also includes the transfer of teachers at the Lebanese University.

Israeli defense officials have said that the latest attack on UNIFIL stems from Hizbullah's fear that the U.N. peacekeeping force will seek greater freedom to search Lebanese villages for weapons without a previous coordination with the Lebanese army.

The bombing of the UNIFIL convoy near the southern port city of Sidon on Tuesday was likely aimed at sending a message to the peacekeepers to scale back their operations against Hizbullah, The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli defense officials as saying.

Investigators probing the roadside bombing that targeted a U.N. convoy on Tuesday have said that the bomb weighed around 6 kilograms and was detonated through an electric wire.

Security sources told Beirut dailies that the 6-kilogram TNT was hidden under dirt on the side of the road near the southern port city of Sidon when it was detonated, injuring six French peacekeepers.

UNIFIL Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas has said investigators trying to determine who was responsible for a roadside bomb that injured six French peacekeepers have "a lot of evidence" that will hopefully lead to the perpetrators.

Speaking in New York, Asarta wouldn't speculate on who set off Tuesday's bomb near the southern port city of Sidon as a four-vehicle U.N. convoy was passing by.

The Italian Senate agreed on Wednesday to withdraw 700 soldiers from the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon, reported AKI Italian news agency.

This decision was part of an agreement to lower the number of Italian troops from international peacemaking missions from 9,250 to 2,028 in 2012.