Libya declared Friday an immediate ceasefire in the month-long battle against rebels fighting to overthrow strongman Moammar Gadhafi, but the insurgents dismissed it as a bluff and Washington demanded action, not words.

More than four hours after the announcement, rebels said they were still being attacked by Gadhafi loyalists, a claim Tripoli denied.

A son of Libya Moammar Gadhafi on Friday said his family was "not afraid" after the United Nations approved air strikes against forces loyal to his father's regime.

"We are in our country and with our people. And we are not afraid," Seif al-Islam Gadhafi told ABC News Nightline from the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Qatar will contribute to international efforts to protect Libyan civilians and urged quick action to impose a no-fly zone on the North African country, state news agency QNA reported on Friday.

"Based on the U.N. Security Council resolution, Qatar has decided to contribute in the efforts aiming at stopping bloodshed and protecting civilians in Libya," QNA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said his forces would fight a "decisive battle" Thursday, as Washington added its voice to efforts at the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone.

Gadhafi's latest comments came after his forces pressed rebels in the west on Wednesday and threatened their eastern bastion of Benghazi, despite calls from U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for an immediate ceasefire.

Several Arab nations are prepared to take part in a military operation in Libya to stop the advance of leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe wrote on his blog on Wednesday.

"Only the threat of force can stop Gadhafi. It is by bombarding, with the few dozen planes and helicopters he really has, his opponents' positions that the Libyan dictator has turned the balance.

Lebanon's U.N. Ambassador Nawaf Salam, who called for a Security Council meeting on imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, vowed to protect civilians in the country “as swiftly as possible.”

Lebanon is the only Arab nation on the 15-member council.

The U.S. Embassy said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank following a deadly attack on a settler family, calling Israeli settlements "illegitimate" and an obstacle to peacemaking.

In a rare interview to the Israeli media, the Palestinian president reached out to the Israeli public, decrying the weekend attack in the settlement of Itamar as "despicable, immoral and inhuman." But he rejected the Israeli suggestion that his government was indirectly to blame.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams stressed on Monday the importance of dialogue in settling Lebanese disputes.

He said after holding talks with House Speaker Nabih Berri: “The Speaker and I were in full agreement that irrespective of the differences that may exist internally within Lebanon, dialogue remains the only and most important tool for the Lebanese to resolve their problems.”

The U.N. chief’s spokesman and other diplomats denied that Lebanese officials had discussed with Ban Ki-moon the issue of the non-cooperation of four caretaker ministers with Daniel Bellemare, the prosecutor of the international tribunal.

“I am not aware of any such contacts between Bellemare and the secretary-general either,” Ban’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams revealed on Thursday that the international organization is currently studying the best way to assist Lebanon in drilling for petroleum in the Mediterranean and demarcating its maritime border.

He made his statements after holding talks with Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the political situation in Lebanon and the economic challenges facing it, as well as the government formation process.