The United States has significantly scaled down a planned joint military exercise with Israel most likely because of disagreements on how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions, Time magazine has reported on its website

Citing "well-placed sources in both countries", the magazine said Washington was slashing by more than two-thirds the number of U.S. troops going to Israel, and reducing the number and potency of missile interception systems that will be used in the exercise dubbed Austere Challenge 12, which is scheduled for October.

The government is set to convene at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday where it is scheduled to discuss 68 articles, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It said that it remains unclear if the petroleum file will be addressed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to order a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, the newspaper Haaretz reported on Friday.

The article, citing an Israeli official on condition of anonymity, said Merkel had called Netanyahu 10 days ago amid a wave of reports of an imminent Israeli attack, to give a "clear message as to her opposition" to such action.

The United States and Israel are responsible for the conflict scorching Syria by "flooding weapons" to rebels there, the supreme leader of Iran -- the main ally of Syria's regime -- said on Friday, according to his official website.

"The main and behind-the-scenes operators behind the painful issues in Syria are America and the Zionist regime," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran.

Israeli security forces evacuated and demolished two dwellings in the wildcat settlement of Ramat Migron during the night, a police spokeswoman said Friday.

This comes ahead of the planned evacuation of nearby Migron, the largest wildcat settlement in the occupied West Bank.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a house in southern Israel early on Friday, without causing any injuries, a police spokesman said.

"A rocket hit a house in the town of Sderot, causing damage to the roof. There were no injuries but a resident was hospitalized in a state of shock," said the spokesman, Luba Samri.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who is scheduled to represent Lebanon at the United Nations General Assembly meetings in September, will reportedly discuss Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone with international officials.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, Miqati will head to New York in the second half of September and is expected to tackle with U.N. leaders the dispute between Lebanon and Israel over a zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves there that could generate billions of dollars.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday warned against attempts to destabilize Lebanon as it renewed the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the country for another year.

The renewal of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon came amid mounting concerns about the impact of the 17-month-old war in Syria on its neighbor.

Interpol asked for help Thursday in identifying the alleged accomplice of a suicide bomber who killed six people in Bulgaria last month and distributed images of the suspect.

In a statement, the Lyon-based global policing body urged national police forces to distribute the images, released earlier this month by Bulgarian police.

A U.N. official Thursday condemned an Israeli court finding that cleared the army of any blame for the death of U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie as "a defeat for justice and accountability."

Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, also called Tuesday's decision in a civil case brought by Corrie's family "a victory for impunity for the Israeli military."