Prime Minister Najib Miqati will preside an official Lebanese delegation to New York at the end of September to participate in the annual United Nations General Assembly's meeting, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily, the premier's speech will highlight the importance of implementing peace in the Middle East and Lebanon's ambition to witness its accomplishment.

President Barack Obama called Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday after he provoked a sudden crisis in relations by warning Washington had no moral right to stop Israel attacking Iran's nuclear program.

In an unusual move, Obama called the Prime Minister in the early hours Israel time, after a day of fast-rising tensions, exacerbated when Israeli officials said Obama had snubbed Netanyahu's request for talks on U.S. soil.

President Barack Obama will not receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the United States later this month, an Israeli official told Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

Netanyahu, who will be attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, had asked for a meeting with Obama, proposing to travel to Washington for it, the official said

The international community cannot ask Israel to keep waiting before acting against Iran if it has not laid down red lines to Tehran over its nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"The world tells Israel: Wait, there's still time. And I say: wait for what? Wait until when?," Netanyahu said.

Hizbullah has between 60,000 and 70,000 rockets aimed at Israel, the Jewish state's Defense Ministry Diplomatic-Security chief said Monday.

Speaking at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's World Summit, Amos Gilad said Hizbullah has stockpiled rockets of various types, and its arsenal is far more robust than the one it had prior to the 2006 war with Israel.

Israel has agreed to compensate a family from southern Gaza whose two sons were shot dead by Israeli troops during the 22-day war over New Year 2009, a rights group said on Monday.

According to a statement from the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Israel has agreed to pay compensation of 430,000 shekels ($108,315, 84,760 euros) to the Shurrab family from Khan Yunis over a deadly incident which occurred shortly before the end of the massive Israeli operation.

The head of the U.N. atomic agency hit out Monday at Iran's refusal to grant access to sites and scientists involved in suspected nuclear weapons research, as Western powers looked to turn up the heat on Tehran.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano called on Iran to open up "without further delay" the Parchin military site where "powerful tools" could detect traces of covert activities despite Tehran's suspected clean-up work.

Some 2,000 Palestinians angry at the rising cost of living flooded the streets of Hebron on Monday, as a general strike halted public transport across the West Bank.

Clouds of black smoke poured into the air across the Israeli-occupied territory as furious demonstrators set light to tires, kicking off a second week of protests against the spiraling cost of living, high petrol prices and unemployment.

Israel is talking with Washington about laying down "clear red lines" for Iran over its nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Canada's CBC.

"Iran will not stop unless it sees clear determination by the democratic countries of the world and a clear red line," Netanyahu told the Canadian television channel.

A Palestinian request for talks on amending the Paris Protocol governing economic ties with Israel in a bid to address social unrest in the West Bank is "not serious," an Israeli official said on Monday.

Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh told Agence France Presse on Sunday he had made a formal request to the Israeli government through the defence ministry for talks on changing the 1994 agreement.