Some 10,000 Israeli Arabs rallied in northern Israel on Tuesday to demand the right of return for refugees expelled after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

The demonstration took place in the Israeli village of Lavi, which was built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Lubya.

U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice will visit Israel this week for high-level talks only days after the collapse of a U.S.-led peace bid, the White House said Tuesday.

Rice will "lead the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-Israel Consultative Group meetings" on Wednesday and Thursday, said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fought back Tuesday against increasingly scathing criticism from hardliners, saying his pragmatic approach to diplomacy had stolen Israel's thunder.

After years of bellicose rhetoric from ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Zarif said the new government had managed to put an end to Israel's portrayal of Iran as "a danger" over its nuclear ambitions.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat has reportedly asked Christian political leaders to stop Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi from visiting the Holy Land despite the insistence of the cardinal that he was backing the Palestinian cause.

Al-Liwaa newspaper said Tuesday that Jumblat made the appeal during the national dialogue session that was chaired by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace a day earlier.

An Israeli NGO is on Monday launching a smartphone app that allows users to find the remains of Palestinian villages that now lie inside modern-day Israel.

The launch is timed to coincide with Israel's 66th independence day, which begins at sundown, when the Palestinians remember the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" that befell them when Israel came into existence in 1948, and 760,000 of them fled or were forced into exile.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat renewed on Monday his support for the Syrian revolt, rejecting however recent reports that some rebels have resorted to Israeli aid in their mission.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa news website: “We reject and condemn any Israeli intervention amid reports of security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and Syrian rebels.”

Israel must tackle anti-Arab hate crime with an "iron fist," a top minister said on Monday as police confirmed arresting seven minors over racist graffiti and spitting at a priest.

The Israeli authorities are facing mounting pressure to rein in a spiraling wave of so-called "price tag" hate crimes by Jewish extremists targeting Arab Israelis and Palestinians, with new racist vandalism attacks being reported on an almost daily basis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday moved to defend his plans to enshrine Israel's status as the national homeland for the Jewish people in law.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the aim was to "anchor" in law Israel's status and ensure it would remain a Jewish state following any peace deal with the Palestinians. 

Hamas will never recognize Israel and will not accept the conditions laid out by the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, according to the Islamist movement's deputy leader. 

Speaking late on Saturday, Moussa Abu Marzouq said Hamas, which recently signed a reconciliation deal with the Western-backed Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank, would never agree to recognize Israel. 

Israeli police looking for evidence linked to a recent attack on a mosque were mobbed overnight by around 100 demonstrators at a West Bank settlement, a spokeswoman said Sunday. 

As concerns grow over the spiraling number of hate crimes by Jewish extremists against Palestinians and Arab Israelis -- euphemistically referred to as "price tag" attacks -- the Israeli authorities are coming under increasing pressure to tackle the phenomenon.