Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's admission that the party was behind the drone that was shot down by Israel on Saturday is aimed at diverting attention away from the developments along the Lebanese-Syrian border, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

A leading March 14 source told the daily: “Hizbullah is seeking to lure Israel into a war against Lebanon.”

Hizbullah was behind the drone that Israel shot down last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu charged on Thursday during a tour of the security fence separating southern Israel from Egypt.

During the tour, Netanyahu stated that Israel would "act with determination to defend its sea, air and land borders" just as it had "thwarted Hizbullah's attempt over the weekend" to send an unmanned aircraft into Israeli airspace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wing-religious bloc is set for an easy victory in a snap election due early next year, according to two opinion polls published on Thursday.

Netanyahu and the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties allied with him stand to increase their parliamentary majority to 68 in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament, according to a poll published in Haaretz newspaper.

Russia is the only player able to halt Iran's nuclear program without the use of force or crippling sanctions, Israel's parliamentary speaker told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday.

Speaking on a visit to Moscow, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin told his host that Russia's close ties with Iran gave it the "opportunity and the obligation" to quash Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The Israeli Air Force early Thursday morning launched a strike against what a spokeswoman called "a terror activity site" in the northern Gaza strip, which she said was in response to earlier rocket attacks on Israel.

Palestinian officials in Gaza said the target was a training camp of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades and said there were no casualties.

Hizbullah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will have a televised appearance on Thursday to discuss current issues on the Lebanese and regional scenes, including rumors of a Lebanese drone crossing into Israeli airspace.

Al-Manar TV reported on Wednesday that Nasrallah will speak at 8:30 p.m. to tackle the latest developments regarding his party's alleged involvement in Syria's events.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday kicked off his re-election bid after calling snap polls that he is tipped to win, presenting himself as the only hope of facing Iran and the world economic crisis.

Following his announcement late on Tuesday that the election was to be brought forward, Netanyahu fired the unofficial starting gun to a campaign expected to see Israelis go to the polls in January or February.

The Israeli air force pounded targets in the northern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, without causing casualties, following rocket fire on southern Israel, sources on both sides said.

Palestinian security sources confirmed the strike had hit a training camp in Beit Lahiya which was used by fighters from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called an early general election, saying it should be held "as quickly as possible" in a bid to avoid damaging the Jewish state's flagging economy.

"My duty as prime minister is to put the national interest before everything, and so I've decided that for the good of Israel we must go to an election now as fast as possible," he told a press conference, broadcast live on Israel's main television and radio stations.

Military Tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein issued on Tuesday eight arrest warrants against Lebanese people charged with collaborating with Israel, the National News Agency reported.

According to the news agency, seven women and a man were charged in absentia with collaborating with Israel, entering its territories and obtaining the citizenship.