General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim on Monday described as “temporary” the influx of Syrian and Palestinian refugees from war-torn Syria into Lebanon, rejecting claims that members of al-Qaida have infiltrated the country.

“The numbers released by international organizations are accurate and might be a little higher. They have mentioned 140,000 but there could be 200,000 (Syrian refugees in Lebanon) due to the fact that some of them are not registering their names with the international organizations,” Ibrahim told a delegation from Lebanon's Editors Syndicate.

Warplanes carried out several strikes on Monday on rebel-held areas in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, where fresh clashes pitting insurgents and troops erupted, said a monitoring group.

The area east of Damascus is home to some of the rebel Free Syrian Army's fiercest and best organized groups. Several towns in Eastern Ghouta have become key flashpoints in Syria's conflict, as the violence draws ever nearer to the capital.

Jihadists overran large parts of an Alawite village in the central Syrian province of Hama on Monday in fighting that killed at least 30 combatants, a monitoring group said.

Alongside other radical Islamist groups, al-Nusra Front seized parts of the village of Maan, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding at least 11 rebel fighters and 20 regime troops were killed.

The Turkish Embassy in Lebanon urged on Monday its citizens to be careful and take caution, after the families of the abducted pilgrims in Aazaz threatened to target Turkey's interests in the country.

"We urge the Turkish citizens to refrain from traveling to the country,” the embassy said in a statement to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Syrian troops have deployed bombs containing a killer gas while fighting rebels in the central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists said on Monday.

"Activists in Homs say that six rebels died on Sunday night on the Khaldiyeh-Bayada front-line because they inhaled odorless gas and white smoke," said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and doctors to document Syria's raging conflict.

A "terrorist" group attacked the rebel-held town of Halfaya in central Syria killing women and children, news agency SANA said on Monday, rebuffing claims the deaths were a result of a regime air strike.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition meanwhile blamed the "criminal regime" of President Bashar Assad for committing what it described as a "crime against humanity" in the town.

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Monday held talks with Syria's president on the "worrying" situation in the country.

"I had the honor to meet the president and as usual we exchanged views on the many steps to be taken in the future," Brahimi told reporters at his Damascus hotel, a day after he arrived to launch a fresh bid to end the conflict roiling Syria.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reiterated on Monday calls on the rival political parties to reach peace, agree on a new electoral law and form a new cabinet capable of safeguarding the country.

During his Christmas message, al-Rahi said that the controversial electoral law is the “basis of our conflicts.”

Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi al-Aridi stated that the Lebanese factions are “destined” to return to dialogue, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.

He told the daily: “The Progressive Socialist Party delegation will resume its consultations with various powers over party leader MP Walid Jumblat's initiative to end the political crisis.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel said that President Michel Suleiman fears that the the rival political parties might not resume dialogue, which has spared the country a lot of turbulence.

“The president prioritizes the interests of the country and the Lebanese, he doesn't understand the reasons behind boycotting the all-party talks,” Gemayel told al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday.