Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused on Wednesday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of “leading the country to a catastrophe due to his recent actions,” saying that the party leader is only working on achieving his interests in Lebanon.

He said during a press conference: “Nasrallah has taken it upon himself to act as judge to determine who takes part in the national dialogue.”

Israel's foreign ministry has proposed in a policy paper "toppling" Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas if a Palestinian bid for state observer status at the United Nations is approved later this month.

"Toppling Abu Mazen's (Abbas's) regime would be the only option in this case," the position paper obtained by Agence France Presse says. "Any other option... would mean waving a white flag and admitting the failure of the Israeli leadership to deal with the challenge."

Israel is considering resuming its contentious practice of assassinating militant leaders in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in an effort to halt intensified rocket attacks on Israel's south, according to defense officials.

That Israel might renew a practice that brought it harsh international censure is evidence of the tight spot Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in. With Israeli elections two months away, rocket barrages from Gaza are disrupting the lives of 1 million residents of southern Israel, pressuring the government to come up with an effective response.

The European Union is waiting for the outcome of a Bulgarian inquiry into a deadly suicide bombing attack on Israelis in July before deciding on whether to list Hizbullah as a terrorist organization, the French Ambassador to Israel said.

“Our British friends would like to put Hizbullah’s military wing on the terror list,” Christophe Bigot told The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli airforce launched three raids on targets in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday as military top brass weighed a stronger response to rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

The air raids hit an uninhabited area to the west of Gaza City, without causing any casualties, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

The March 14 alliance lashed out on Tuesday at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, pointing out that the high tension level in his speech indicates the crisis his party is going through over the developments in Syria and the opposition’s rejection to attend the all-party talks.

“He divided the Lebanese into two categories: conspirators and patriots,” sources close to the March 14 coalition told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The main Palestinian groups in Gaza, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said on Monday they were ready for a ceasefire if Israel "stops its aggression" against the territory.

"The Islamic and nationalist movement confirm that the response of the resistance depends on whether the Zionist aggression against our people is continued," they said in a statement released at a news conference in Gaza City.

Israel is preparing for a huge expansion of the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank, the Peace Now settler watchdog said on Monday.

The plan, which has yet to be approved, would see Itamar expanding five-fold from 137 homes to 675.

The trial of four former Israeli military chiefs charged over a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla has been adjourned to February 21, the relief group that organized the mission said on Monday.

Israel has angrily denounced the case as a "show trial" and none of the four defendants have appeared in the dock at the Istanbul court where the trial opened November 6.

Israeli troops fired tank shells into Syria on Monday in retaliation for a mortar round that struck near an army post in the Golan Heights, scoring "direct hits" on the source of the fire, the army said.

"A short while ago, a mortar shell hit an open area in the vicinity of an IDF (army) post in the central Golan Heights, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria, causing no damage or injuries," it said.