The Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers on Monday carried out patrols along the border with Israel amid a high alert in the area, mainly near the occupied Shebaa Farms, a day after Israel's deadly air strike on Hizbullah members in Syria.

The state-run National News Agency said Lebanese troops and UNIFIL patrolled the southern border while Israel stopped its patrols along the technical fence and intensified them one to two kilometers deep into Israeli territory.

Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Israel of seeking to hit Lebanon every time the country makes progress towards stability as a report said that he held contacts with top officials to contain the repercussions of an Israeli strike that killed several Hizbullah members.

“Every time we take steps forward in terms of achieving stability … Israel tries to create chaos,” local dailies on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday urged his Palestinian counterpart to renew peace talks instead of pursuing efforts at the International Criminal Court or United Nations.

"There is no other way than direct negotiations. Unilateral steps will not solve the conflict, but just give more power to the extremists," Rivlin said during a visit by a delegation of U.S. senators headed by Republican John McCain.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew into Tel Aviv on Sunday at the start of a visit hailed by Israel as an opportunity to boost economic ties.

Israel on Sunday laid charges against seven Arab Israelis over allegations they set up a militant cell linked to the Islamic State group, the Shin Bet internal security agency said.

The seven, who all come from Israel's northern Galilee region, were all arrested in November and December and indicted at Haifa District Court on Sunday. They are aged between 22 and 40.

Several Hizbullah fighters were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the Quneitra region in the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights.

“The Israeli enemy's helicopters fired missiles at a group of Hizbullah fighters who were inspecting the town of Mazraat al-Amal in the Syrian Quneitra region,” Hizbullah's media department announced in a statement.

Miss Universe contestants are keen to proclaim their desire for world peace, but this year's Miss Lebanon has declared war after claiming Miss Israel muscled in uninvited during a group "selfie."

Saly Greige took to her Facebook page to declare that Israel's Doron Matalon had pushed her way into a now widely-circulated photo showing the Middle Eastern beauties with Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia.

Egypt is to reopen the Rafah crossing with Gaza for three days starting Tuesday, for the third time since it was shut in late October after a deadly suicide bombing, security officials said.

The crossing, the only access point to the Palestinian Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, was to be reopened last week, but the decision was postponed after an Egyptian police officer working at the terminal was kidnapped and killed.

The army announced on Sunday that three of its soldiers suffered from suffocation after Israeli troops at the border tossed teargas bombs at their military position.

It said in a statement that the incident took place near the Aita al-Shaab area in the South.

The United States joined Israel in condemning the International Criminal Court decision to open a preliminary probe Friday into possible war crimes committed against Palestinians, blasting it as a "tragic irony".

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office would conduct an "analysis in full independence and impartiality" into alleged war crimes by Israel, including those committed during last year's Gaza offensive.